Unai Emery names the one team Nottingham Forest remind him of after ‘watching’ them recently

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Nuno Espirito Santo is defying expectations at Nottingham Forest this season, guiding his side into an unlikely battle for European football.

Forest were high on the list of relegation candidates at the start of the season, with Gary Lineker predicting Forest to go down before a ball was even kicked.

Espirito Santo and his Forest coaching staff have proved Lineker and the doubters wrong, though. Espirito Santo has eclipsed Steve Cooper’s Premier League record, winning more games than the English coach in 21 fewer matches.

Ian Wright praised Espirito Santo for his use of substitutes, adding to the many fans the Portuguese manager has gained this season.

Another fan is Aston Villa boss, Unai Emery, who has heaped plaudits on the Nottingham Forest manager in the buildup to their visit to the City Ground on Saturday.

Unai Emery praises ‘competitive’ Nuno Espirito Santo

In his pre-match press conference, Emery was keen to pay tribute to Espirito Santo, with Forest becoming one of Villa’s rivals for European football this season.

He said: “Nuno was the coach when we played [Forest] at Villa Park but it was a little bit different. Now, I think I can see Nottingham Forest with his face and his identity.

“Nuno is always very competitive […] the matches we played [against each other] are always difficult, even losing against Wolverhampton in that moment [at Arsenal].”

Emery is right to bring up the competitiveness between himself and Espirito Santo. The two have coached against each other seven times, claiming two wins each and drawing the other three.

This Nottingham Forest squad may be a new proposition for Emery, but he admitted that he is seeing signs in it that will excite Forest fans greatly.

Emery sees shades of Espirito Santo’s Wolves side in Forest

Continuing his press conference, Emery suggested that the current Forest side has similarities with Espirito Santo’s Wolves team which qualified for the Europa League in the 2019/20 season.

Emery said: “His [Espirito Santo’s] experience is really important, even in Europe. I [at Sevilla] played Nuno and his Wolverhampton team in the Europa League because they finished 6th in the Premier League, they played against Sevilla in the Quarter Final.

“I’m saying this because I’m watching something like that here with Nottingham, he is now a rival for our team.”

Clearly then, Espirito Santo has an admirer in Emery, with the Villa coach expecting not just a difficult challenge on Saturday, but throughout the season from Forest.

If Espirito Santo can guide the club back into Europe for the first time since 1981, he will go down in Nottingham Forest’s history as one of the most impactful and important coaches.