Nottingham Forest have struggled on their return to the English Premier League. After making more than 20 signings in the summer transfer window, they added a few more in the winter transfer window. Despite making these signings and adding a few talented players to the squad, they were sitting at the bottom of the league table. The management has kept their faith in Steve Cooper and is hoping that the manager will help them survive in the league. In recent games, Forest have shown signs of improvement. They collected nine points in the first 13 games, and now they have collected 15 points in the last nine matches. One of the reasons behind this recent success is the form of their 21-year-old forward, Brennan Johnson.
Brennan Johnson has featured in every match for Forest this season and has the most goal contributions. His form in the last five matches has earned points for his side. We now look at some of the stats of the 21-year-old that show how he is changing the atmosphere at the City Ground.
The above viz shows the percentile rank of Brennan Johnson in comparison to other centre-forwards in the English Premier League. Johnson has made 22 appearances for his side and has five goals along with two assists. The 21-year-old has speed and skills to show on the pitch. He is ranked highly for attempting dribbles and progressive passes. Overall, his team has struggled, and the player has a low percentile rank in most of the stats given above.
Ending a 12-game goal-scoring drought
Brennan Johnson scored two goals in the first six games of the English Premier League. After scoring these two goals, he struggled in the next 12 matches and was unable to provide any goal contributions. He broke the deadlock after scoring a brace against Leicester City in January. His goal contributions in the last five matches have added ten points to the Forest bank.
The 21-year-old has scored three goals in the last five matches. He took eight shots, and five were on target. Overall, the player averages 1.49 shots per 90 minutes and has an accuracy rate of 56.3%. The average in the last five matches has been around 1.6 shots per 90 minutes, with a 62.5% accuracy rate. The xG rate per shot is 0.2, which is on the high side. Johnson has been more clinical in recent matches and this has earned points for his side.
Along with these three goals, the forward also has two assists to his name. These are the only two assists that he has provided this season. After just providing nine shot assists in the first 17 matches, the 21-year-old has six in the last five matches. These shot assists have been low crosses into the opposition penalty box. The above viz shows that Brennan Johnson has provided four passes that have found a teammate just in front of the opposition goal. He averages 1.95 passes to the opposition’s penalty box per 90 minutes with a 50% accuracy rate. In the last five matches, he has provided 15 passes at an average of around three passes per 90 minutes. The accuracy rate is around 46.6%. One of the assists came in a 1-0 win over Southampton, and the other one came in a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth.
Running down the right flank
Nottingham Forest plays with two strikers, and Brennan Johnson plays on the right side. In the last five matches, Johnson has attempted 25 dribbles and completed 14 of them. These dribbles allowed him to deliver a few crosses into the penalty box. The second visual above shows that the box penetrations have been made from the wide side. He likes to stretch the opposition’s defence and sometimes makes diagonal runs into the penalty box. Forest will hope that Johnson troubles the opposition’s defence in the same way in the coming matches.
Betting Analysis
Brennan Johnson’s recent form will have a lot of effect on the 1×2 betting odds for Nottingham Forest. The odds tend to decrease against the teams ranked below them. As for the over/under goals, the over rate will slightly remain low if Brennan Johnson is a part of the starting 11. In the event that the player gets injured or dropped, the odds are likely to increase.
The 21-year-old Welshman will look to continue this good run in the remaining part of the season. He is highly rated and was a crucial member of last year’s promotion-winning team. His all-around performances will be the key to Forest’s success this season.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
