Nottinghamshire

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest's 16th-place finish was disappointing after being seventh the season before, but the club can't have too many complaints as they had the 15th-best expected goal difference in what was a very turbulent campaign.

While just 11 sides scored more goals, only Wolves, Crystal Palace and Fulham had a worse shot-conversion rate than Forest.

However, it was nothing to do with their finishing but more the fact that only Burnley and Tottenham created worse chances in front of goal.

Just five sides faced more shots and only the relegated sides were more open in terms of xG, but only seven sides conceded fewer goals.

That was largely thanks to keeper Matz Sels, who was one of the best shotstoppers in the league in terms of goals prevented (3.6).

New manager Oliver Glasner will therefore hope to improve Forest's creativity around the box while tightening things up at the back.

Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town are thought to be among a number of clubs considering a move for Chelsea's English striker Liam Delap, 23. (Independent), external

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

In the Premier League last season, 13 of the 20 teams finished with between 40 and 60 points - the most in an English top-flight campaign since 2003-04 (also 13).

Was the Premier League so competitive in 2025-26 because the quality of the 'lesser' teams got better or the top teams got worse? It is hard to know for sure.

Given how savvy clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are, the vast amounts of money that enable even bottom-half sides to sign the best talent from abroad and the Premier League's current dominance of the Europa League and Conference League, it would seem to be the former.

However, the fact that promoted play-off winners Sunderland were able to finish above 13 teams in their first season back suggests the league was maybe not as strong as we think.

What we do know is that whether because they got worse or their opponents got better, four of the sides that finished in the top seven in 2024-25 - champions Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest - took 79 points fewer between them last season.

While Forest's decline was perhaps expected given their incredible seventh-place finish in 2024-25 and their journey to the Europa League semi-finals last season, the others were far more surprising.

Sunderland and Leeds smashed the recent run of promoted sides struggling to compete by taking 64 more points than the teams they replaced in the top flight.

As a result, this season will be a bit of an upside-down one in that Bournemouth, Brighton and Sunderland have European campaigns to navigate while Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle do not.

Will we therefore see a bounce-back to the more 'traditional' order in 2026-27 or are we truly entering a new, fiercely-competitive era of the Premier League?

Read more on the Premier League's competitiveness

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Nottingham Forest boss Oliver Glasner has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League opener against Leeds United at the City Ground (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Ryan Yates and Nicolo Savona have been ruled out but he will still have the pick of "23 other fit on-field players" for his matchday squad.

• On Savona's road to recovery after undergoing surgery in March: "We did think he would be further on than he is right now. He had a minor set-back with his knee, so he is back working in the gym again." The defender should be back on grass in a couple of weeks.

• Glasner is "very ready" to take charge of his first competitive match as head coach: "The players are fit and looking good. We've changed a few things in the way we want to play but the players have adapted really well. We aren't at 100% right now, it just isn't possible, but we feel we are on a good track."

• On what he is expecting "very good" Leeds United to bring: "They play very physically, they are top at set pieces, they were second in running distance and they won the most balls under pressure last season."

• The two pre-season friendlies at home have shown the fans' "passion and support" for the team. Glasner added: "I've learned that fans don't expect you to win every single game, but they do expect you to fight for every single ball. If we do that, the City Ground will be our fortress."

• Glasner is still expecting one or two more incomings before the end of the transfer window.

• He explained: "I'm very confident we will get in two more high-quality players. We won't do business just to add numbers. We already know which players we want to bring in, now it is about getting the deals done. We do have other options with the same profile, though, if those deals can't be done."

• Glasner said they will be of a similar profile to Xaver Schlager and Ousmane Diomande, explaining he wants two players with "Champions League experience and many caps for their countries that have played at the highest level".

• European football chat "makes no sense" at the moment, with Glasner adding: "It also doesn't align with how I am as a person. I'm always very humble, I'm not a loud speaker, and I'm fine with admitting every team is doing a good job at being ambitious and so far we are the team spending the least."

• In his opinion, the fans will be "realistic with their expectations as long as they are being told the truth" - and, importantly, he added that his team do have "big goals" for the next few seasons.

Hit play above to hear more from Glasner, speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, or listen on BBC Sounds here

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary of Nottingham Forest v Leeds United from 15:00 BST

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, PA Media

With Oliver Glasner's arrival, perhaps the expectation was it would trigger another Nottingham Forest overhaul.

It has been relatively quiet so far, with Glasner hoping patience will pay off.

Forest's main signings - Xaver Schlager and Ousmane Diomande - add extra quality and depth, while Schlager played under Glasner at Wolfsburg and is a player the head coach knows and can immediately trust.

Goalkeeper Steven Benda joins as third choice to offer extra cover, but because there has not been a marquee signing to replace Elliot Anderson, there can be a view Forest have fallen short in the window so far.

That should not be the case, with Forest always looking for quality over quantity and Glasner said on Sunday that two or three deals were in the pipeline.

Glasner also dismissed a suggestion on Forest were short on numbers in midfield, pointing to James McAtee and Morgan Gibbs-White as options who could comfortably drop back.

The expensive nature of the market, the World Cup holding deals up and Forest looking to be more precise naturally means transfers have been slower. Add to that clubs know Forest have money to spend.

Any team would be weaker without England's Anderson, who was outstanding for Forest after joining from Newcastle two years ago, but while there are still gaps to fill it should not be panic stations.

What have you made of Forest's summer transfers so far? And what do you expect to happen at Forest before the end of the transfer window?

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Last season: 16th.

This season: 8th.

How did a squad with Nottingham Forest's obvious quality end up fighting relegation last season?

Easy - have four managers.

After Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vitor Pereira comes the ambitious appointment of Oliver Glasner.

Glasner is demanding and will have an even more demanding owner in Evangelos Marinakis, but Forest will surely use the £116m from the sale of Elliot Anderson to back their new manager.

Expect plenty of activity before the deadline, with Ivory Coast defender Ousmane Diomande already in for £34m from Sporting.

Morgan Gibbs-White has stayed and will be a key figure again.

The Glasner era - like all other managerial eras at Forest - will not be dull.

• Read more of Phil's predictions

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Image source, Getty Images

Teams in the bottom half of the Premier League in 2025-26 finished with more points than they had in years, meaning that judging them simply by their position in the table is perhaps a little harsh.

Everton may have been underwhelmed with their 13th-place finish but it was the most points a team in that position had finished with since the Toffees themselves in 1999-2000.

The points of the four places below them were all the highest they have been in the Premier League for 23 years and West Ham can consider themselves unlucky to have gone down with the highest points total for an 18th-placed side since 2010-11.

However, competition has come at a cost.

One place where the Premier League has become less competitive - because it has become more fiercely-contested overall - is at the very bottom.

While it is almost expected for one side to be cut adrift long before the end of the season, nowadays two sides are getting left behind.

The average points tally of the second-bottom side in a 38-game season is 31, meaning teams that finish there have usually competed in a relegation battle for most of the season before ultimately falling short.

After the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, only two 19th-placed sides failed to reach 30 points in the first 21 seasons. But in the past decade, seven of the 10 sides to finish in that position have failed to do so.

In the past two seasons, promoted sides Ipswich and Burnley have both finished there with just 22 points - the fewest ever taken by a second-bottom side.

Relegation battles are now mostly a fight to see who takes the final spot in the bottom three, with the other two accounted for long before the final day - often by promoted sides.

But inspired by the survival of Sunderland and Leeds, promoted trio Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City will all be hoping they have what it takes to match the competitiveness of the Premier League this season.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

A new episode of Shut Up and Show More Football is available on BBC Sounds and this week's special guest is former Nottingham Forest midfielder Jack Colback.

Colback, who was part of the Reds' Premier League promotion-winning team in 2022, will be joining BBC Radio Nottingham's commentary team for some of this season's fixtures, including Saturday's season opener against Leeds United.

Speaking about Forest's ambitions for the 2026-27 season, Colback said: "From the owner's point of view, he will be very ambitious. Bringing in Oliver Glasner just shows how much he wants to move this club forward.

"The league positions nowadays can be a bit confusing because you can be not far from finishing eighth or 17th at times.

"European football, as good as it was, felt like a bit of a hindrance for them. It was amazing for the fans to get to the semi-final, but it was difficult for them to keep their league form up.

"I do think there should be optimism this season. The owner will certainly want to be up there competing for Europe again."

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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