The 2024/25 Premier League season is, depending on your point of view, “only” 10 games in, or alternatively, “already” more than a quarter of the campaign has gone. Whatever your perspective, though, there is no doubt that the story so far is Nottingham Forest. Last season the two-time European champions finished one spot above the relegation zone and this time around many tipped them to go down. We are confident that many of their own fans would have accepted the safety of 17th place again this term but after 10 games Forest find themselves in third place in the table.
After just 10 matches they already have 19 points, which is about 60% of their entire total from 2023/24. They are above Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Aston Villa and Manchester United and their fans are in a wonderland they wouldn’t have even dreamed of before a ball was kicked. The first target will remain 38 points but once they reach that, they may even begin to dare thinking about European qualification.
Premier League Top 6 After 10 Games (2024/25)
| Pos. | Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Liverpool | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| 2nd | Manchester City | 7 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| 3rd | Nottingham Forest | 5 | 4 | 1 | 19 |
| 4th | Chelsea | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| 5th | Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| 6th | Aston Villa | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
There is, of course, a long way to go before all of that but how have Forest achieved this brilliant start to the season? The manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, must take a lot of the credit. He came in just before Christmas in 2023 and whilst he hardly excelled, it was mission accomplished as he helped guide the club to safety.
This time around we can also look to their defensive solidity as being the bedrock of their fine start. They have conceded a mere seven goals in their opening 10 fixtures, with top-of-the-table Liverpool the only other side to have conceded fewer than 11 thus far. But the player getting a lot of the attention is, rightly, Chris Wood, Forest’s burly, oft-maligned Kiwi centre forward.
Wood the Best Striker Around Right Now?
There has been much talk over the past few years about the death of the out-and-out striker, with the number nine seemingly out of fashion. Many of the best players and top scorers in recent times, especially at international level and in the Champions League, have tended to operate in wider positions, with many teams favouring a front three.
However, right now we have several more traditional strikers thriving, with Robert Lewandowski rolling back the years for Barcelona (14 goals in 12 La Liga games this term) and Harry Kane (11 in nine) doing likewise in the Bundesliga. Closer to home the Premier League has arguably the best of them all in Erling Haaland, and the Norwegian is the top scorer in the PL thus far with 11 goals, and 14 goals from 14 games in all competitions.
Premier League Top Scorers After 10 Games (2024/25)
| Pos. | Player | Team | Goals | Mins Per Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 11 | 82 |
| =2nd | Chris Wood | Nottingham Forest | 8 | 101 |
| =2nd | Bryan Mbeumo | Brentford | 8 | 112 |
| =4th | Cole Palmer | Chelsea | 7 | 124 |
| =4th | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 7 | 125 |
Those three may have more goals than Wood, but they play for three of the best teams in the world, in Barca, Bayern and Man City. Nottingham Forest may have won more European Cups/Champions League titles than City but right now they are operating at a very different level. They are just four points behind them but nobody expects Wood and co to maintain this form all season, whilst a similar proportion of experts would predict City not improving on what is, for them, a relatively slow start to the campaign.
Wood has eight Premier League goals thus far from 10 games where he has played 807 minutes. He scored against Bournemouth on the opening day and was steady for the first six games before hitting an excellent run that has brought five goals in the last four matches. The Auckland native also scored for his country recently in a game against Malaysia and is in the form of his life right now.
Moreover, his hot streak goes back much further than just the start of this season. In fact, it coincides exactly with Espirito Santo taking over at Forest. The Portuguese’s first game in charge came on the 23rd of December 2023 and his Kiwi striker scored one and assisted another. Prior to that, he had managed just three goals and zero assists from 15 games (though in fairness he had generally been used from the bench).
Nuno Helps Wood Thrive
However, former goalkeeper Nuno, known for his defensive organisation rather than attacking expertise, clearly made a decision to build the offensive side of Forest’s game around Wood, who started the first five games under the new manager and netted five goals but was withdrawn, injured, in the fifth.
A spell on the sidelines followed due to a hamstring issue but then Wood was again first choice and hit six goals in the last 11 matches of the 2023/24 campaign to help secure the points Forest needed to survive. Nuno is playing to his striker’s strengths and Wood has responded impressively.
Since Nuno came to the City Ground, only Haaland has scored more non-penalty goals than Wood. The Kiwi is the most expensive player ever from Oceania thanks to his £25m move to Newcastle from Burnley. That didn’t really work out but he has been brilliant for Forest (who paid £15m for him), and especially so since linking up with former Wolves and Spurs boss Espirito Santo.
He ended last season as the club’s top goalscorer with 15 in all competitions (from 35 games). He already has more than half that tally this term and has scored 57% of his club’s Premier League goals. Overall he has scored 23 PL goals for his current side from just 48 games. That is even more impressive when we consider that in 15 games before Nuno arrived in 2023/24 he played just 460 minutes (just over five full games).
Wood will be 33 on the 7th of December 2024 and whilst his game is not really about pace, age catches up with all of us. He is undoubtedly playing the best football of his career right now though and it is great to see, especially for a player that has been unfairly criticised at times. Analysis by the Premier League’s official website explained how the New Zealander has tended to thrive under managers who like to play on the break and the fast counter-attacks of Forest certainly play to his strengths.
Stats from this season also show his incredible shooting accuracy. In the top flight this term he leads the way, whilst he is also very high in terms of outperforming his individual xG. If Wood can keep on scoring, who knows, maybe Forest can shock us all this season and hang onto a top-six spot – or perhaps even better!