Fewer touches than Sels: Nottingham Forest star who lost 100% duels let Nuno down – opinion

Nottingham Forest dropped out of the top four in the Premier League on Sunday after they were beaten 3-1 by Newcastle United at the City Ground.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side did take the lead in the match, though, as Murillo powered a header in from Anthony Elanga’s set-piece on the right flank in the 22nd minute.

However, goals from Alexander Isak, Joelinton, and Harvey Barnes in the second half secured all three points for Eddie Howe’s side ahead of the last international break of the year.

There were a number of underwhelming performers on the pitch for the Tricky Trees and Matz Sels ended the match with a save success rate of just 50%.

Matz Sels’ performance against Newcastle

The Belgian titan, who had 34 touches of the ball, may have only saved three of the six shots against him in the match, but it was not a dreadful showing from the shot-stopper by any means.

There was nothing he could have done to stop the equaliser from Isak at the start of the second half, as the Swedish marksman lashed a shot in off the post from close range.

Similarly, Sels could do little to stop Joelinton from putting the Magpies 2-1 up. The Brazil international fired in a left-footed shot off the post and in from the edge of the box.

You could, however, question his reactions for the third goal. Barnes reverses his shot into the near post and Sels is too slow to stick a leg out to the shot and it squirms past his boot, putting the game to bed.

There was a player whose performance was disappointing, though, and that was winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, who let Santo down with his showing.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s performance in numbers

The former Chelsea forward came into this match off the back of two impressive performances against West Ham United and Leicester City, providing five key passes, completing six dribbles, and scoring one goal.

Hudson-Odoi, who won ten of his 12 duels against the Foxes, started on the left flank against Newcastle on Sunday and failed to continue his fine run of form.

Unfortunately, the 24-year-old whiz was unable to provide any spark or creativity on the wing, whilst he had fewer touches than his goalkeeper Sels – with just 26.

Vs Newcastle

Callum Hudson-Odoi

Minutes

59

Shots

0

Key passes

0

Duels won

0/4

Error led to shot

1

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Hudson-Odoi was a lightweight out of possession for Nottingham Forest, losing 100% of his physical contests.

The English attacker also ended his time on the pitch with zero shots and zero chances created for his team. In fact, his error that directly led to a shot for Newcastle meant that he, essentially, created more chances for the Magpies than he did for Forest.

Therefore, the left winger let Nuno down with his poor showing in and out of possession and the manager will be hoping that his electric whiz can return to his best after the international break, as his previous two performances were mightily impressive in comparison.