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• No love lost for Espirito Santo ahead of Wolves reunion

  Nuno Espirito Santo chose not to dwell on his time with Wolves, with full focus on maintaining Nottingham Forest’s unbeaten start to the season when his former side visits the City Ground on Saturday.

  Espirito Santo spent four years at the helm in the West Midlands, helping them win promotion to the Premier League during the 2017-18 season.

  But full focus for the Forest head coach turns to league action following their EFL Cup exit to Newcastle United on penalties in midweek after their 1-0 win over Southampton five days ago.

  However, with the transfer window slamming shut ahead this weekend’s round of action, Espirito Santo said he is keen to bolster his squad, but would not be doing so without careful consideration.

  "There's a lot of love and respect from our time that we worked there - it was special,” Espirito Santo said. “It's a different game [to usual] and I wish them all the best for the other 36 games of the season.

  "We have 36 hours, I think the club is working to bring solutions and options to make us stronger and have a competitive squad.

  "It's all about the profile of the player - it's not easy, especially in these last hours but it's also not easy because we already have talent and quality in the squad. As a club we are working and I expect to bring in some players."

  Wolves, meanwhile, are yet to get off the mark in the league after their 6-2 thrashing against Chelsea at Molineux but progressed to the third round of the EFL Cup with a win over Burnley on Wednesday.

  The encounter against the Championship side offered Gary O’Neil the opportunity to give some of his fringe players some much needed minutes after a productive pre-season campaign.

  But much like his opposite number, O’Neil was looking ahead to Friday’s deadline, insisting that some big decisions would be made before they make the short journey to the East Midlands.

  "I am pleased. I thought we looked good and we did really well,” O’Neil said. “It was an opportunity for some players to get minutes because they have worked hard during training and in pre-season.

  "I was confident that we would see a good team performance and they did not let us down.

  “It was good to see where a few of them are though, because there are some big decisions coming up in terms of transfers and team selections."

  "I am pleased. I thought we looked good and we did really well,” O’Neil said. “It was an opportunity for some players to get minutes because they have worked hard during training and in pre-season.

  "I was confident that we would see a good team performance and they did not let us down.

  “It was good to see where a few of them are though because there are some big decisions coming up in terms of transfers and team selections."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

  Since Gibbs-White’s Premier League debut for Forest after arriving from Wolves, only five players have created more chances from open play in the competition than he has (108).

  He has continued his fine form into this campaign, already creating six open play chances which is a total only bettered by Liverpool’s Luis Diaz (seven) after the first two games.

  Wolves – Matheus Cunha

  Matheus Cunha has become a pivotal player for O’Neils side in the attacking areas and has now been involved in 17 goals in his last 19 Premier League starts for the club (11 goals and six assists).

  The Brazilian has also enjoyed fixtures against Forest, scoring three goals in his three appearances against them, only scoring more against Chelsea (four).

  MATCH PREDICTION: NOTTINGHAM FOREST WIN

  Nottingham Forest are expected to continue their fine start to the Premier League season, winning 45.6% of Opta’s data-led simulations, with Wolves given a 29% chance of emerging victorious at the City Ground.

  The Reds have taken four points from their opening two games this season (W1 D1). They last avoided defeat in their opening three games in a top-flight season in 1995-96, going on to finish 9th.

  No side has had more shots than Forest in the Premier League this season (37), while they have had the most shots on target of any team (16). Since returning to the Premier League in 2022-23, Forest have had eight or more shots on target in five games – four of those have come in their 23 games under Nuno Espirito Santo, compared to once in 55 games under Steve Cooper.

  However, their recent record against their Midlands rivals is one they will be looking to change. Forest have won just one of their last 11 league games against Wolves (D5 L5), last beating them 2-0 at Molineux in January 2018,

  Wolves are unbeaten in their last six away league games against Saturday’s opponents (W3 D3) since a 3-1 loss in March 2013, but have lost their last five Premier League matches, conceding 18 goals. They last had a longer losing run when losing the final three games of 2020-21 and opening three games of 2021-22.

  Wolves have also won just one of their last 20 Premier League matches in August (D9 L10), a 1-0 away win at Everton last year. Overall, they’ve won just 15% of their games in August (5/33), the lowest win ratio in that month by any side to play in more than one season in Premier League history.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Nottingham Forest – 45.6%

  Draw – 25.4%

  Wolves – 29%

• Columbus Crew v New York City FC: Cushing hoping to turn around ‘flat’ dressing room

  Nick Cushing said his New York City players must use the pain from recent results to progress as a team when they head to the Lower.com Field to face Columbus Crew this weekend.

  The Pigeons returned from an impressive Leagues Cup display with a 2-2 draw against Chicago Fire but were left disappointed with the result after squandering a two-goal lead to share the spoils thanks to Brian Gutierrez’s late penalty.

  NYCFC are now without a win in the MLS in their last five fixtures, with Cushing describing the mood in the dressing room as “flat” following their latest setback.

  Despite their run of form, Cushing’s side sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, and he is looking for his team to show character during the difficulties they are experiencing.

  “In the good moments you realise you are making progress, and you are maturing and learning in that side of the game,” Cushing said.

  “In the side of the game we are strong we are building the play and pressing the game, the other side of the game that experience gives you and going through those moments gives you.

  “Progress is really difficult in the moment, but we have to make sure this isn’t every four weeks. We have to take the pain and I have said this before that tough times make top teams.”

  Columbus returned to MLS action in midweek after their Leagues Cup success and continued their winning momentum with a 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union, a team they beat in the semi-finals on their way to the title.

  They ended an almost nine-year losing streak at Subaru Park, with substitute Yaw Yeboah coming off the bench to strike the decisive blow in the 75th minute.

  The Crew moved to within two points of second-placed Cincinnati with the victory and have the comfort of two games in hand, but head coach Wilfried Nancy has a difficult task in navigating their hectic fixture schedule.

  Only Malte Amundsen and Sean Zawadzki kept their place from their Leagues Cup triumph over LAFC, with Nancy acknowledging the fighting spirit of his players, with special praise for Yeboah’s patience this campaign.

  "They are human beings," Nancy said. "We cannot minimise the fatigue of the body and of the brain. They were exhausted, simple as that.

  "What a game. This is a winning team, but the fact that everybody was involved, and we were able to start with a few guys and, after that, to finish with other guys, and they kept the level great (though) everybody was tired.

  "To be a player, it's a beautiful job, but it's not easy. Sometimes you play, sometimes you don't play. But the idea was to be honest with him and to tell him the situation. When the moment would come, I knew that he was able to help us win the game."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

  Cucho Hernandez has found a place he can call home at the Lower.com Field, and his comfort on home soil has been replicated in his sensational contributions up front.

  He has been involved in 20 goals in 17 home matches in all competitions in 2024 (14 goals and six assists), totalling 14 goal involvements in his eight matches at Lower.com Field since the beginning of June (nine goals and five assists).

  NYCFC – Alonso Martinez

  Alonso Martinez was on target in NYCFC’s last match against Chicago Fire, scoring twice in the same match for the third time this season.

  Only Spanish great David Villa and Valentin Castellanos (both three times) have recorded more multi-goal games in a single campaign in club history.

  MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

  Columbus are unbeaten in nine straight home matches against NYCFC in all competitions (W6 D3 including a penalty shoot-out win in this year’s Leagues Cup quarter-final). The Pigeons' only win in 13 visits to Columbus was a 3-2 victory in April 2017.

  The Crew have lost only one of its last 37 home matches in all competitions (W25 D11) dating back to May 2023. They have won seven of their last nine matches at Lower.com Field, culminating in their Leagues Cup Final win over Los Angeles FC on Sunday.

  NYCFC conceded in the 78th and 94th minute in their draw with Chicago Fire last time out, marking the first time in club history that they have failed to win a match that they led by multiple goals in the 75th minute or later (previous W85 D0 L0).

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Columbus Crew – 64.5%

  Draw – 19%

  NYCFC – 16.5%

• Lukaku reunites with Conte as Napoli transfer confirmed

  Romelu Lukaku has ended his second spell with Chelsea after his move to Napoli was confirmed on Thursday. 

  Lukaku, who spent last season on loan with Roma, has signed a three-year contract for a reported £38million fee, reuniting with former Inter coach Antonio Conte.

  The Belgian scored 15 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions during his second spell at Stamford Bridge after his £97.5m move from Inter in 2021. 

  Lukaku's 24 Serie A strikes helped Conte win Inter's 19th title in the 2020-21 campaign, but upon his return to Stamford Bridge, he found himself surplus to requirements after an underwhelming first season. 

  The striker returned to Inter on loan before joining Roma last term, scoring 21 goals in 47 appearances, seven of which came in the Europa League as I Giallorossi reached the semi-finals of the competition. 

  He produced an expected goals (xG) of 0.33 per 90 last season, the third-highest of the players in Roma’s squad in Serie A, behind Paulo Dybala (0.48) and Sardar Azmoun (0.47).

  Among Roma players, only Dybala (10.59) registered more expected goals in Serie A last season than Lukaku (9.83).

  Lukaku also led Roma’s squad in shots (65) and shots on target (28) in the league last term. However, his 20% shot conversion rate ranked sixth best out of the players to feature for the club at least 10 times in Italy’s top flight.

  Lukaku has scored 47 goals in 72 appearances under Conte in Europe’s top five leagues, at an average of 125 minutes per goal. Under no coach has Lukaku scored more goals than Conte.