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Nottingham Forest had finished runner-up behind Liverpool in the English top tier back in 1979.
Nottingham Forest are second in the Premier League (AP)
The Premier League table is starting to have a 1979 kind of feel to it — with Liverpool at the top of the standings and Nottingham Forest in second place as the closest challenger.
Liverpool padded its lead with a 5-0 rout of West Ham on Sunday, while upstart Nottingham Forest climbed into second place by beating Everton 2-0 to continue its surprising push for a Champions League place.
Forest was runner-up behind Liverpool in the English top tier in 1979 – the same year it won the first of two straight European Cups under Brian Clough – but hasn’t finished that high in the domestic first division since then.
The club’s long-suffering fans finally have reason to believe that the good times are back under Nuno Espirito Santo. Although the Portuguese manager was the first to point out that his team may not stay in second place for very long.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Nuno said of his team’s position. “We haven’t achieved anything yet.”
Forest could find itself back in fourth place by Jan. 1 as it is only one point above Arsenal and two ahead of Chelsea, with both London clubs having a game in hand.
Liverpool could prove a lot harder to overtake, though, as Arne Slot’s team only seems to be growing stronger and stronger.
The performance at West Ham was one of its most impressive yet, with five different players getting on the scoresheet — including Mohamed Salah, who netted the team’s third for his league-leading 17th of the season.
Salah also had an assist to take his tally to 52 goal contributions in all competitions for the calendar year 2024 — 29 goals and 23 assists.
Salah was asked after the match if he would soon have good news for fans about his future beyond the end of this season, when his contract expires. The Egyptian told Sky Sports: “No, we are far away from that.”
“The only thing on my mind is I want Liverpool to win the league and I want to be part of that,” Salah said. “I will do my best for the team to win the trophy. There is a few other teams catching up with us and we need to stay focused and humble and go again.”
Liverpool is nine points ahead of Arsenal and 10 above Chelsea, with all three teams having played 18 games.
Manchester City is 14 points back having played 19 games, after beating Leicester 2-0 away.
(With inputs from Agencies)