Nottingham Forest centre-forward Lorenzo Lucca made an impressive start to life at the club with a debut goal against Leeds United in the Premier League on Friday night.
It was not an ideal night for the Tricky Trees, as they lost 3-1, but they can still be encouraged by the Italian number nine's first minutes on the pitch.
The 6 foot 7 marksman did well to get on the end of Omari Hutchinson's cross to nod the ball past Karl Darlow to score a consolation goal for Sean Dyche's side.
lorenzo-lucca-nottingham-forest
Lucca scored 12 goals in 33 matches in the Serie A for Udinese in the 2024/25 campaign and will be hoping to hit that kind of form in front of goal during his time with Forest in the coming months.
Dyche's team play bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers at the City Ground next time out, and the Italian forward should be brought into the side to lead the line.
Why Igor Jesus must be dropped
Whilst Lucca deserves an opportunity to start after impressive off the bench against Leeds, the Napoli loanee should also come into the team because Igor Jesus must be dropped.
Igor-Jesus
In the loss to Leeds, the Brazilian striker lost six of his eight aerial duels, and failed to create any chances for his teammates, on top of failing to score with the two shots that he had at goal.
Jesus has impressed in the Europa League, with six goals in six appearances for the Tricky Trees, but his form in the Premier League has not been good enough.
25/26 Premier League Igor Jesus
Appearances 24
Starts 17
xG 3.94
Goals 2
xA 0.86
Key passes per game 0.3
Assists 1
The 24-year-old striker has been below-par in front of goal, underperforming his xG by almost two goals, and has created very little for his teammates in the final third.
This is why Lucca should be given an opportunity to start ahead of the Brazilian in the upcoming Premier League games, in the hope that he can offer more than Jesus as a goalscorer.
Forest's Brazil international is not the only player who should be dropped, though, as there is another Forest flop who should not start again this season.
The Forest flop who should not start again this season
As poor as he has been, Jesus could still be an option to start games between now and the end of the season because of his Europa League form and his three goal contributions in the Premier League.
igor-jesus-nottingham-forest
Zach Abbott, however, looks like he should never start again in the Premier League this season after Dyche put him in at the deep end against Leeds on Friday night.
With Neco Williams suspended, the 19-year-old centre-back was trusted to start at right-back against Gabriel Gudmundsson and Noah Okafor, who are two very direct left-sided players for Leeds.
Zach-Abbott
Forest podcaster and writer Lee Clarke posted that the defender is "not ready for the Premier League", and it is hard to argue with that assessment after his performance against Daniel Farke's side.The teenager was not playing in his favoured role, as a centre-back, which made it even more difficult for him, but the youngster did not look ready for the intensity and quality of the Premier League just yet.
Vs Leeds Zach Abbott
Minutes 76
Ground duels won 2/7
Aerial duels won 3/3
Fouls 2
Dribbles completed 1/3
Key passes 0
Big chances created 0
He was, unfortunately, too weak in his duels on the ground and that is why Okafor and Gudmundsson both got too much joy out of him down the left for Leeds, with the former scoring the second goal in the game.
Abbott has also started three times in the Europa League this season and suffered with similar problems. He has lost 67% of his ground duels in Europe, and 56% of his overall duels.
zach-abbott-nottingham-forest
These statistics, and his display against Leeds, suggest that the 19-year-old is not quite ready for the physicality of Premier League and Europa League football.
The loss to Leeds and his games in Europe will be valuable for his development, as the defender now knows exactly what is required to play at that level, but he looks below the level required at the moment.
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche looks on
That is why the English gem should not start another game in the Premier League this season, with Forest fighting to avoid relegation, because they need results and Abbott does not look ready to contribute to positive performances and results.
Therefore, Dyche should leave him out of the firing line for the rest of this season, using the likes of Williams, Luca Netz, and Ola Aina instead, and possibly look to loan him out to play regular football in the 2026/27 campaign.
morato-nottingham-forest Related
[Nottingham Forest must regret losing "outstanding" Morato & Abbott upgrade](https://www.footballfancast.com/morato-abbott-upgrade-nottingham-forest-must-rue-losing-loic-bade/ "Nottingham Forest must regret losing "outstanding" Morato & Abbott upgrade")
Nottingham Forest must regret not keeping hold of one player who's reached incredible levels away from the City Ground.