EPL: Forest in second behind rampant Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, England (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 themselves back in fourth place by January 1 as they are 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 their 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 are a few other teams catching up with us,nd we need to stay focused and humble and go again.”

Liverpool are nine points ahead of Arsenal and 10 above Chelsea, with all three teams having played 18 games.

Manchester City are 14 points back, having played 19 games, after beating Leicester 2-0 away.

Guardiola marks milestone with win

In his 500th game in charge of Man City, Pep Guardiola had some reasons to smile again.

City marked Guardiola’s milestone with a win and a goal from Erling Haaland – things that the Spaniard used to take for granted but have been increasingly rare of late for the struggling four-time defending Premier League champions.

Savinho also netted his first goal for the club in a much-needed win although the team still looked far from the juggernaut that has dominated English football for much of the Spaniard’s reign.

Leicester had several chances for an equaliser before Savinho set up Haaland for the second in the 74th as City ended a five-game winless run in all competitions.

“Just relief, that is the word to express how all of us feel,” Guardiola said. “It was not the ideal performance, but hopefully, the victories will give our mood a better position. Hopefully in the new year we can bounce back a bit from a bad moment.”

Other results: Tottenham 2-2 Wolves; Fulham 2-2 Bournemouth; Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton.