Saturday evening sees Manchester City head to the City Ground to play a Nottingham Forest side that has really been struggling under Oliver Glasner.
At the time of writing, the Tricky Trees are second from the bottom with only one win to their name and just six goals scored, the worst attacking record in the Premier League.
No wins at home for Forest
To give further context as to just how badly Forest have been this season, they’ve yet to score a goal at home in the league.
Their four games played in 2026/27 on the banks of the River Trent have seen a 1-0 loss against Leeds, a 0-0 draw against Tottenham, another 1-0 defeat, this time against Coventry and a further 1-0 loss against Arsenal, albeit their performance against the reigning champions was much better than in previous matches.
City will be hoping to wrestle the lead back from Arsenal as we head into the international break, and with 20 goals scored already – the second most in the division – they’ll take some stopping.
One area where Forest have really struggled is in midfield and that’s no real surprise given that they lost Elliot Anderson to City in the summer.
Hosts need to swarm Anderson
The England international was the glue that held his side together and, whilst no one player is bigger than the club, he’s left a gaping hole that the Midlands-based outfit has had trouble filling.
In Ibrahim Sangare, the hosts do have a more than capable defensive midfielder in situ; however, he’s only likely to come into direct contact with Anderson if the latter decides to get forward and supplement City’s attackers.
Arguably, Morgan Gibbs-White, Ryan Yates and others need to remain on the front foot at all times, in order to ensure that Anderson has to put more defensive work in.
He’s perfectly capable of doing just that, of course, though he’d surely like nothing better than getting forward and sending a long-range effort into the top corner in front of the thousands that used to chant his name. How they’ve missed him, too.
Incredible passing stats
There are plenty of other City players to be concerned about, but it’s Anderson who will be the driving force if he’s given half a chance.
Only Rayan Cherki has made more appearances in 26/27 (15) than Anderson’s 14, though both have started the same number of games this season (12).
In fact, the Englishman has actually played more than his French colleague, as his 1,049 minutes on the pitch surpass Cherki’s 927.
The same two players have made the most passes into the final third, with Cherki again just edging Anderson (266 to 238). It’s worth pointing out that City’s number five has the better pass completion rate in this regard, however.
An 82.35% return is one of the best in the squad, and with regard to passes more generally, only Ruben Dias (1,076) has attempted more than Anderson’s 960. The latter’s 90.63% completion gives some perspective on his excellence.
Defensively sound
Defensively, his 34 tackles made and 21 won are both the best returns in City’s entire squad, and alongside other stats, have contributed to some sensational Flashscore player ratings, including an 8.7 in City’s last game against RB Leipzig.
In terms of his one-on-one success, no one comes close to his 154 duels attempted, nor the 94 that have been won by the 24-year-old.
Anderson’s 75 ball recoveries are at least 25 more than any of his outfield colleagues, too, and even though aerial battles aren’t necessarily his thing, he has still won the majority he’s been involved in (12 successes from 21 attempted).
He’s also managed to get 14 shots at goal in 26/27, which is even better than Jeremy Doku, for example, indicating that Anderson’s all-round game remains in top shape.
Glasner to go if Forest lose?
Though he’ll not enjoy hammering another nail into Forest’s coffin, he has a job to do – and it’s one that he does with aplomb.
For Oliver Glasner, he’ll understand that if Anderson and his colleagues can’t be stopped, an international break would be the perfect time for trigger-happy Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, to wield the axe once more.
If, however, the hosts can pull off what would easily be their best performance of the season, that would at least give the Austrian a short stay of execution.
How the club must rue ever having cashed in their chips on a player who just keeps getting better and better.