Alan Smith declares Nottingham Forest have officially entered Premier League title race
Alan Smith has declared that Nottingham Forest have officially entered the Premier League title race after the latest round of top-flight games.
Forest, who were only promoted back to the top-flight in 2022, produced a 3-2 victory over Southampton on Sunday to continue their incredibly impressive 2024-25 season under head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
The result means Forest are third in the top-flight table after 22 matches played on 44 points, only behind second-placed Arsenal on goal difference.
Liverpool remain top of the Premier League on 50 points with a game in hand over both Arsenal and Forest – but former Gunners striker Smith is adamant that Nuno’s side must now be considered title challengers.
Forest haven’t been champions of England since 1978 but Smith believes they could produce a ‘miracle’ and follow in the footsteps of Leicester City, who remarkably won the Premier League title in 2016 at odds of 5000-1.
‘Its incredible,’ Smith told Sky Sports about Forest’s season so far, with the club having finished 17th last term. ‘Chris Wood keeps on scoring.
‘They’re absolutely full of it. They’re 1737438120 in the title race, mathematically.
‘I think realistically, they are not, but we probably said that about Leicester. Who knows. It could be another miracle.’
Robert Huth, part of the Leicester team who won the 2016 Premier League title, is also convinced Forest are now genuine challengers for the trophy.
Quizzed on talkSPORT if he saw any similarities between Claudio Ranieri’s history makers and the current Forest team – and if Nuno’s side could actually win this season’s top-flight title – Huth said: ‘Yeah, of course.
‘It’s great to see a smaller club challenging at the top of the league. As much as I want them to do well, I do not want them to win the league, because I don’t think the Leicester supporters would forgive me (due to the rivalry between the clubs).
‘But they are flying this season and they deserve to be up there. For sure, they are in the race.
‘We’re into the important part of the season 1737438120 and they need to keep on going.’
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