On December 26th, Nottingham Forest won 2: 1 against Aston Villa in an away game.
On December 29th, Forest returned to their home ground. Their opponent was the "Black Cats" Sunderland. The two teams that had faced each other in English League One were now in the English Premier League. The difference was the circumstances of the two teams. Nottingham Forest now had 42 points and was in second place on the scoreboard, while Sunderland had one win, three draws, and 14 losses, with only six points and was in last place after 18 rounds of the league tournament.
Against such a weak opponent, and at home, Tang En once again carried out a large-scale rotation. Other than the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, George Wood, and the striker, Anelka, everyone else was changed.
Under the cheers of the 27,000 Forest fans in the City Ground stadium, Nottingham Forest easily won. 3: 1.
Chelsea won, the Forest team won, and Manchester United also won. The three teams were locked in a tight battle. The gap between Chelsea and Forest was four points, while the gap between Forest and Manchester United was two points. As for Liverpool, who was in fourth place in the league, the gap was too large and temporarily had no possibility of threatening the three teams.
"… This season, we can no longer say that Nottingham Forest is an outstanding disruptor. Looking at their lineup and current ranking, we should change to calling them 'strong contenders for the league title.' "On Match of the Day, Lineker expressed his optimism for Tang En's team's prospects.
"I'm going to play the devil's advocate as usual, Gary." Mark Lawrenson appeared on the television screen with a serious face.
Lineker looked at his smooth chin and the top of his lips and smacked his lips. "Are you going to bet on your hair this time, Mark?"
Alan Hansen, who was next to him, laughed happily.
"No, I'm not betting this time." Lawrenson touched his lips out of habit, even though there was nothing on it. "I admit that Tang En's team is doing very well now. I admit that, but I think the real test for him has yet to come. "
"Such a tight schedule hasn't stopped Nottingham Forest from winning. What do you mean by the 'real test'?" Lineker asked.
"February 22nd."
Lineker raised his eyebrows. "You mean after the Champions League restarts?"
Lawrenson nodded. "If Tang En's team can get through the third round of the FA Cup, then they will face a three-way competition. I think that will be the real test for Tang En."
Lineker was silent for a while. During this period of silence, Alan Hansen stood up and expressed his disagreement with Mark Lawrenson's opinion. The example he cited was that the Forest team, which competed in both the UEFA Europa League and the league tournament last season, did not fall behind.
"Alan, you have to understand that the Champions League and the UEFA Europa League are not on the same level of competition. Competing for the league title and qualifying for the Champions League are not the same level of difficulty." Lawrenson's words sounded plausible this time, or perhaps it really made sense.
"Nottingham Forest now only has three strikers. Although Anelka has performed steadily and is trustworthy since his return to the English Premier League, this is their biggest hidden danger. If one of the three strikers gets injured, it would be almost impossible to rely on the two strikers to fight on three fronts. "
"But Eastwood is about to be discharged from the hospital …"
"There's still a distance between being discharged from the hospital and representing the team in a match. What's more, the Romani has undergone two consecutive surgeries in this period of time. I'm not optimistic about whether he can return to his previous state. "Lawrenson shrugged and was determined to stand against the Nottingham Forest fans.
Lineker knew that if this topic went deeper, he and Alan Hansen would not be able to refute Lawrenson, because what Lawrenson said was very reasonable. So, he smiled and said, "Okay, let's pay attention to Chelsea. Otherwise, there will be complaints from the audience that we have become the Forest team's club television station."
The three men laughed and just like that, they got over the Forest team's problem.
※ ※ ※
As if to demonstrate to Mark Lawrenson, on December 31st, after the league tournament entered the second half, the Forest team defeated the season's "dark horse," Wigan Athletic, in an away game. On January 2nd, the Forest team defeated Charlton Athletic 3: 1 in an away game.
Since December 11th, in the sixteenth round of the league tournament, after a 1: 1 draw with Manchester United, Tony Twain's team had won five games in a row during the most intense period of the competition schedule.
The powerful Chelsea also continued to win. After 21 rounds of the league tournament, Mourinho's Ruble army was still advancing at a high speed. They had 18 wins, one draw and two losses, and were top of the table with 55 points.
In second place, Nottingham Forest had 16 wins, three draws and two losses, and was close behind with 51 points.
Manchester United met their arch-rival, Arsenal, in the twenty-first round of the league tournament. In an away game, Manchester United tied with Wenger's team at 0: 0. Now, they were in third place with 47 points, and the gap between them and Nottingham Forest had widened to four points.
However, no one dared to underestimate Manchester United. Ferguson's team had obtained one point at Highbury, but it was equivalent to three points. There was still hope without losing. This was perhaps the unanimous thought of the Manchester United fans.
Twain also did not dare to relax. He knew that there was a pack of wolves in hot pursuit behind him. Even though he was also a member of the pack now, as long as he relaxed even a little, he would be caught and torn to pieces by the wolves behind him.
After the end of the intense Christmas schedule that strained people's nerves and muscles, all the clubs had a chance to rest. The next round of the league tournament would only begin on January 14th, and there was a two-week period in between. Other than the FA Cup, there was nothing else.
As for the FA Cup, Twain used rotation in such competitions as usual. Their opponent was the English Football League Championship team, Sheffield Wednesday. Nottingham Forest easily won at home and advanced to the next round.
Mark Lawrenson's prophecy seemed to have begun.
The Forest team, who had obtained consecutive victories, advanced like a hurricane on three fronts. While they enjoyed the thrill of victory, the danger of being overturned also accompanied them.
But no matter how many dangers lurked in the future, the victory in front of them was good news for everyone in the Forest team. Who would not like to win?
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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