Nottingham Forest may not statistically be the best team defensively but their record should be admired and that is why they are up there.
Nuno is definitely shaping his team in that image because you have to be good defensively to have a chance.
Years ago the critique around him was, ‘they don’t score enough goals whichever team he has’, but Nuno knows the importance of a good foundation. What makes it more dangerous is that they are very hard to break down, so they almost encourage you to over-commit. The moment you over-commit is when you see their wingers and forwards really pop up the pitch and have a huge impact.
They will not pass you to death, but they will make you play the game that they want you to play.
With this Forest side, at times players will respect it but not in the same way they might respect it if it was a bigger-name team, so they will still believe they can just go and take it to them. However, as we have seen, some teams have been really stunned by that.
Some wins in football happen and they age really well. Forest beating Liverpool at Anfield is arguably the biggest result of the whole season because we have seen the Reds under Arne Slot win every game apart from that one since he took over.
That performance summed up how good their defensive structure and their attacking intent can be and why they should not be underestimated this season.
There is potential they will be a thorn in the side of top teams this campaign. For the way football works, you obviously have good teams but what is key is the way styles match up against each other.
Forest’s style – being comfortable not having possession at times but still maintaining an element of threat – that is the type of strategy you need against the sides who want to keep lots of possession.
So even though there is a chance you might lose to these teams, you will never offer up an easy game.
Nuno’s side could be a really significant part of how the Premier League’s top six or seven looks this year.
And, with some good fortune, they may be a top half team themselves.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport’s Nicola Pearson
