Nottingham Forest fans are in a state of euphoria coming into 2025.
One season after the club found themselves in a relegation battle, only staying in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth, Champions League football aspirations are now possible. Forest is firmly placed in the converted top four.
Nine wins and nine draws in 2023/24 saw a total of 32 points. Already 12 wins and four draws just after Christmas see them placed on 40 points. But beyond this, six wins in a row- a record for the club at the Premier League level – has taken the country by storm.
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They sit two wins clear of reigning champions Manchester City and are only two games behind league leaders Liverpool.
These six wins have come from tough matches. Despite losing to Manchester City, Notts then went on to beat Manchester United, Aston Villa and Tottenham in this dream run, demonstrating incredible levels of consistency. The club spent £106 million (AUD$211 million)in the 2023/24 off-season so this continued investment has finally started to pay off.
Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest celebrates after scoring a goal. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Forest have discovered counter-attacking football as their means to win games. Murillo at centre-back has been imposing and has led the defence to a PL-high nine clean sheets. This has been critical to their success and formula for winning games.
Nottingham Forest need a stronger defence than most due to having the lowest possession rate at 39.9 per cent. Being disciplined and waiting for their opposition to make mistakes, while not conceding themselves, creates chances for Nottingham up the other end.
Statistics point to a Champions League berth for the Reds. Only four clubs to have scored 40 points at this time of the season have failed to reach the top four in Premier League history. This could mean Forest are on track to break a 45-year drought.
Liverpool on January 15 will be the benchmark for Forest, and if they can get points out of the league leaders, the City Ground stadium will party throughout the night as some dare to dream that a 2016 Leicester City miracle could be repeated.
Mohamed Salah celebrating after scoring. (Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Even if the Champions League isn’t meant to be for Nottingham, sixth would be good enough to see them in European football and that should be considered a massive success.
But considering the relegation battle from previous seasons, the goalposts shouldn’t move because of a breakout season – not yet anyway.
There have been teams that have risen as quickly as they have fallen and so for Forest, the goal now has to be maintaining this performance firstly throughout the rest of the season, but also ensuring the main squad sticks together instead of being picked off.
Losing too much talent could quickly see Forest end up back in a relegation battle next season.
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