What does Postecoglou’s arrival mean for Forest players in FPL?

The Scout on what Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as the new Nottingham Forest head coach will mean for the prospects of their key players in 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League.

What to do with Sels and Forest defenders?

The tactics of Postecoglou and his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo could barely have been more contrasting last season.

In his final campaign at Tottenham Hotspur, Postecoglou steered them to a mere SIX clean sheets, conceding 65 goals – on both counts, the fifth-most in the Premier League.

Forest, by contrast, claimed 13 clean sheets, second only to the 14 of Liverpool and more than TWICE the total of Spurs. They conceded 46 goals, the joint-sixth best defence in 2024/25.

Spurs v Forest comparison, 24/25

A look at the underlying statistics helps to establish the major difference in the defensive set-ups of Postecoglou and Nuno.

Both Spurs and Forest were relatively similar for shots conceded last season, with the latter actually allowing their opponents more, with 531 to Spurs' 522.

Forest, however, sat deep and restricted their opponents to few big chances, which are situations where a player is expected to score.

Indeed, their total of just 72 big chances conceded was the SECOND-BEST in the league, behind the 58 of Arsenal.

Spurs' high defensive line under Postecoglou was the exact opposite, affording the opposition an abundance of promising goalscoring situations.

Their total of 119 big chances conceded was a hefty 47 more than Forest and the FOURTH-WORST record in the league, better than only the three relegated sides.

Spurs v Forest chances conceded, 24/25

The huge disparity in the two clubs' defensive data last season will surely now have many Fantasy managers thinking twice over holding their Forest backline assets.

Matz Sels (£5.0m) is their most-popular pick at the back, with the Belgian's 16 per cent ownership also making him the fourth most-selected goalkeeper.

What about their attackers?

Only six goals separated Spurs and Forest in 2024/25, with the north London side edging it by 64 goals to 58.

Spurs were a lot more reliable for goals inside the box, though - they placed level with Manchester City for this statistic on 57 apiece.

Forest, on the other hand, were far more dependant on long-range attempts - indeed, their 11 goals from outside the box was the second-most of any side.

Essentially, a lofty 19 per cent of Forest's goals last season were scored from outside the box, compared with only six per cent of Spurs'.

Spurs v Forest goal type, 24/25

Placing more emphasis on goal threat from inside the box could prove good news for Postecoglou's key attackers. 

At present, forward Chris Wood (£7.7m) is the most-popular Forest player, with an ownership of 24 per cent. Similarly to Sels, he is the fourth most-selected player in his position in Fantasy. 

By contrast, attacking midfield trio Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m), Dan Ndoye (£6.1m) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m) are very much overlooked and are all selected by under six per cent. 

The underlying numbers also show why Postecoglou's arrival can help the Forest attack.

Spurs had 99 big chances compared with the 78 of Forest last season, while they also had 60+ more shots inside the box.

The one area where Forest were more threatening was from free-kicks and corners. They ranked third for shots from set-pieces on 154, although Spurs weren't too far behind on 145. 

Spurs v Forest goal threat, 24/25

Hold for short-term fixtures 

If you currently own any Forest players, their short-term schedule shows why it's worth being patient for now.

After their trip to Arsenal this weekend, Postecoglou's side face back-to-back matches with promoted pair Burnley and Sunderland in Gameweeks 5-6.

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five, with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest, both of those contests score just two.

Forest's next three matches

*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture

Following that, though, Forest will embark on a tough run of opponents that is likely to result in big sales at both ends of the pitch.

Certainly, there have to be big question marks over the defence in light of the data.

Further up the pitch, there's a chance that Postecoglou's preference for a hard-pressing forward, such as Dominic Solanke (£7.3m) at Spurs last season, could limit Wood's minutes around European matches and instead bring their attacking midfielders into consideration as the best Forest picks in Fantasy as the season unfolds.