Nottingham Forest have impressed in many ways so far this Premier League season, but Nuno Espirito Santo has had some luck with injuries to help his cause.
Following Forest’s dramatic win over Aston Villa, the club now sits in fourth place in the Premier League table, with the strength and fitness of the Forest squad a key factor.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 36 |
| 2 |  ChelseaChelsea | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 34 |
| 3 |  ArsenalArsenal | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 30 |
| 4 |  Nottm ForestNottingham Forest | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 28 |
| 5 |  Man CityManchester City | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 27 |
| 6 |  B’mouthBournemouth | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 25 |
Forest fans praised Anthony Elanga after his impact off the bench against Villa proved crucial in Forest’s win, but such strong performances off the bench would be impossible if Forest weren’t blessed with good injury luck this season.
A reporter revealed to Espirito Santo ahead of the Villa clash that Forest have the second-best injury record in the Premier League thus far in the 24/25 campaign, which is especially impressive given that Forest had injury problems under Steve Cooper.
The good injury fortune seems to be continuing for Espirito Santo, given his comments in the pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford.
Nuno Espirito Santo provides promising Danilo injury update
In the press conference, the Forest manager was quick to reference the previous week’s injury discovery, given the difficulties he seems to be facing this week on the back of the Villa win.
He said: “I think someone was speaking about our record in terms of injuries, he speaks and suddenly we have problems! So you never know, after a game we have to assess a lot of things.”
Espirito Santo never went into any more detail about what some of these problems may be, but he did offer some positive news on Danilo, who suffered a foot injury when Forest drew with Bournemouth on the opening day of the season.
He said: “Danilo is closer, he’s working with us. Ibrahim [Sangare] didn’t join us yet but they are the two players we are missing. We need them as soon as possible.”
Whilst Danilo was seen in a Forest video in November, this is the most concrete update thus far on the Brazilian’s fitness. However, he will have to fight to earn his place back in the team given the form of Forest’s current midfield star.
Danilo might struggle to replace Elliot Anderson
In Danilo’s absence, summer signing Elliot Anderson has stepped up and become a crucial cog in Forest’s success this season.
Anderson signed for Forest from Newcastle United in July and has started 11 Premier League matches for his new side, contributing five assists already.
In fact, Anderson is creating an average of 2.27 chances per game for his Forest teammates, including 1.58 successful crosses per 90 to benefit Chris Wood up front.
Anderson has also impressed defensively, winning 72% of his tackles per match whilst also completing 6.32 recoveries and winning 65.2% of his aerial duels per 90 minutes.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have been impressed by Anderson, emphasising even more how difficult it may be for the returning Danilo to find himself back in favour in the Forest squad.
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