Supercomputer revises Nottingham Forest prediction after superb start to Premier League season
by Sarah Clapson · NottinghamshireLiveNottingham Forest have been tipped to achieve a top-10 finish in the Premier League this season.
The Reds have made a flying start to the 2024/25 campaign. Ahead of Saturday’s clash with West Ham United at the City Ground (3pm kick-off), they sit seventh in the table and are just two points behind third-placed Arsenal.
So far, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have lost just once in the league and have the second-best defensive record in the division. They go into the game against the Hammers looking to make it three league wins in a row - an achievement they have not managed in the top flight since 1999.
It is all a long way from some of the predictions made by pundits before a ball had been kicked. Some had predicted another season of struggle for the Reds.
At the start of the season, data experts Opta had Forest down to finish 17th. But results so far have changed their prediction and their simulation now has Nuno’s men coming 10th - courtesy of a swing of 10.5 extra points from their original prediction.
Opta now say the likelihood of the Reds finishing 17th is just two percent. Their simulation says Forest have a 0.6 percent chance of coming 18th, a 0.1 percent chance of finishing 19th and a 0.0 percent chance of the club propping up the division once the season is over.
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Nevertheless, Nuno is not getting carried away by his team’s fine run of results. When the Reds went fifth after Friday night’s 3-1 win over Leicester City, he insisted it did not mean anything.
“It’s true, (being fifth at this stage) doesn’t mean anything,” he said after the game at the King Power Stadium. ”What is important now is preparing for West Ham because it is going to be very tough.
“The table is not what guides us. What guides us is how we do things and how we have to now correct details, because we conceded a goal. We are going to try to continue and try to improve.”