Michael Reid – Opta: Elliot Anderson – England’s New All-Action Midfielder

IT’S been a phenomenal 12 months for Nottingham Forest.

Heading into their first season in a major European competition since 1995-96 after a seventh-place finish last term, there is much optimism around Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.

And with that has come a first England call-up for Elliot Anderson.

Following in the footsteps of Morgan Gibbs-White, who last season became the first Forest player to play for England since 1997, Anderson is more than worthy of his place in Thomas Tuchel’s set-up.

Having joined from Newcastle in 2024, Anderson has instantly become a mainstay of Nottingham Forest’s side.

He has played in 40 of their 41 Premier League games since the start of last season – the joint-most of any outfielder for the club.

Nottingham Forest – Premier League since 2024-25
Player	Apps	Starts	Mins
Matz Sels	41	41	3690
Nikola Milenkovic	40	40	3600
Elliot Anderson	40	36	3012
Murillo	39	39	3461
Chris Wood	39	38	3216
Ola Aina	38	38	3273
Neco Williams	38	31	2860
Anthony Elanga	38	31	2507
Morgan Gibbs-White	37	37	3078
Ryan Yates	37	18	1912

In that time, only Murillo (1,307) has completed more passes for Forest than Anderson (1,274), while on a per 90 basis, the new England midfielder tops the lot.

Nottingham Forest – Premier League since 2024-25
Player	Mins (1,000+)	Passes	Successful	Successful/90	Passing Accuracy
Elliot Anderson	3012	1528	1274	38.1	83.4%
Nicolás Domínguez	1970	927	813	37.1	87.7%
Murillo	3461	1629	1307	34.0	80.2%
Morgan Gibbs-White	3078	1372	1102	32.2	80.3%
Ryan Yates	1912	761	630	29.7	82.8%

But it’s not just that he is so heavily involved for Forest that stands out, but what he does with the ball is telling too.

Almost a third of his passes are forward, ranking him fourth among all Premier League midfielders since 2024-25 for ratio of passes going towards the opponent’s goal.

Premier League Midfielders since 2024-25
Player	Passes (1,500+)	Forward	% Forward
Lucas Paquetá	1570	552	35.2%
Bruno Guimarães	1887	659	34.9%
Bruno Fernandes	2213	763	34.5%
Elliot Anderson	1528	507	33.2%
Youri Tielemans	2125	663	31.2%

Anderson is mixing it here with some of the most important creative outlets for various Premier League clubs – Lucas Paquetá at West Ham and Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United in particular stand out as shouldering a heavy burden when it comes to creating opportunities. Anderson, along with Gibbs-White, bears much of that for Forest.

Santo’s side are unique, though, in that they don’t tend to have too much of the ball during a match. Among ever-present sides, only Everton (40.7%) average a lower share of possession in the Premier League since 2024-25 than the Tricky Trees (41.9%).

As such, their midfielders, such as Anderson, are required to lift a heavy load off the ball. And here is where he really stands out.

Only three midfielders have made more tackles in the Premier League since the start of last season, and only two have recovered possession more for their sides.

Premier League Midfielders since 2024-25
Player	Possession Won		Player	Tackles
Moisés Caicedo	243		Idrissa Gueye	139
Bruno Fernandes	237		Moisés Caicedo	126
Elliot Anderson	225		João Gomes	123
João Gomes	212		Elliot Anderson	104
André	211		André	98
			Alexis Mac Allister	98

All-in-all, Anderson has won an astonishing 268 duels across 2024-25 and 2025-26 – the outright most of any Premier League central midfielder.

Premier League Midfielders since 2024-25
Player	Duels	Duels Won	Duel Success
Elliot Anderson	513	268	52.2%
Bruno Guimarães	508	259	51.0%
Moisés Caicedo	428	254	59.3%
Idrissa Gueye	408	234	57.4%
João Gomes	480	224	46.7%
Lucas Paquetá	458	222	48.5%

A look at where he makes his defensive actions on a pitch map shows just how all-action Anderson is as a midfielder.

Of course, at the highest level, it’s not just about winning the ball, but how you then go on to use it.

We’ve seen Anderson’s importance in terms of his passing for Forest, but combine it with his ability to recover possession, and you can see how multi-faceted his game is.

Indeed, he has started off 159 sequences of possession since the start of last season, and 12 of those have ended in his side having a shot – only four central midfielders can top him for that in this time.

Premier League Central/Defensive Midfielders since 2024-25
Player	Possessions Started	Ending in Shot
Moisés Caicedo	218	29
Alexis Mac Allister	145	16
Joelinton	93	15
André	162	14
Carlos Baleba	171	12
Elliot Anderson	159	12
Ryan Christie	101	12

His England call-up has been a long time in the making and is a totally justified selection from Tuchel.

---

Please remember to gamble responsibly. Visit our Safer Gambling section for more information, help and advice.