English Premier League: The Rise of Forest, The Fall of City, and Slot’s Success

You would be far fetched to find an English Premier League (EPL) fan that had Nottingham Forest ahead of defending champs Manchester City over halfway through the season.

Forest has been the biggest surprise from this season narrowly avoiding relegation last year to being third and holding a six-point lead over Manchester City for automatic Champions League qualification.

The surprises of the Premier League season are led by veteran striker Chris Wood who has bagged 17 goals this campaign four behind the Golden Boot leader Mo Salah of Liverpool. Belgian goalkeeper Matz Sels has provided stability in net registering a league leading ten clean sheets.

Former Manchester United youngster Anthony Elanga is tearing it up for Forest as well currently sitting in a tie for fourth with eight assists. The Swedish winger will be pleased with his decision to leave the Red Devils to get first team looks with Forest as he has blossomed into a great young talent on the right wing.

English attackers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White have both also found their potential on this excelling Forest team. Both players have put up season best stats since coming to Nottingham from Chelsea and Wolverhampton.

A managerial change after the holiday break of the 2023-2024 season has sparked new life into this team. Nuno Espírito Santo came in to a team standing at a record of 1-1-8 (W-D-L) and managed to finish out the season on a run of 8-8-12 under his management to avoid relegation by six points.

This season Forest came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and have not shown signs of slowing down roaring to third place with an impressive 14-5-5 record. And despite a scare from third division Exeter City, the Tricky Trees are off to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Manchester City has struggled this year with the loss of reigning Ballon D’Or winner and star defensive midfielder Rodri. Pep Guardiola’s side has looked disjointed at points this year and although they sit fifth in the league, they are a whopping 15 points behind leaders Liverpool.

The Cityzens are still alive in the Champions League after a tumultuous first stage that saw them barely sneak into the playoffs on the last day. They were dealt another blow today dropping the first leg of their playoff to Real Madrid on a 93rd minute winner from Jude Bellingham.

City has a date with Championship side Plymouth Argyle, who just upset Liverpool, in the fifth round of the FA Cup. With the drastic point difference in the league title race and the deficit in the Champions League heading to Madrid the FA Cup is looking like the only salvageable piece of hardware available to Man City this season. A trip to the Club World Cup in June could see the return of Rodri and a chance to bounce back from a significant drop-off year.

Arne Slot had high expectations to withhold taking over for beloved Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Slot has excelled with this Liverpool team topping the Premier League, the Champions League, and playing for the EFL Cup against Newcastle in March.

There have only been a few slip-ups in the short tenure of Slot so far with a loss at Anfield to Nottingham Forest in the league, a shocking defeat to Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and a loss to PSV on the final day of the first stage of the Champions League. The last two losses came without significant first team players including Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, and Salah.

Salah is the front-runner for the Ballon D’Or currently leading the Premier League in both goals (20) and assists (13). The Egyptian winger has continued his success and adapted to new manager Slot’s system with ease.

The Reds currently sit top of the table six points ahead of second place Arsenal with a game in hand as they are yet to play their postponed match against cross-town rivals Everton.

The former Eredivisie manager has this team clicking at every position. The midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai has performed above all expectations with Gravenberch being one of the biggest surprises in the Premier League this season. The Dutch defensive midfielder has been a catalyst in this Liverpool team’s stout defence and a key cog in a lethal attack.

The Premier League has been notoriously associated with “The Big 6” clubs, but this season it is looking more like a big four as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are struggling mightily. Liverpool (1st), Arsenal (2nd), Chelsea (4th), and Manchester City (5th) are all near the top of the table whereas the Red Devils and Spurs are closer to the relegation zone then the title race in 13th and 14th respectively.

All the newly promoted Championship teams – Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton – currently are looking at a short stint in the top division as they all sit in the relegation zone.

Newcastle United and Bournemouth are currently 6th and 7th looking to make a late season push to secure European football for next year. The Magpies were in Europe last season where they got slotted into the Champions League group of death with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), AC Milan, and Borussia Dortmund. The Cherries are on the hunt for their first taste of European football as they have never qualified for the Champions League, Europa League, or the Conference League.

With 15 games still to play in the Premier League season there is still plenty of opportunities for teams to change their fate heading into the 2025-2026 season.