Pundits agree on Nottingham Forest season prediction after hasty relegation U-turn
Pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have both tipped Nottingham Forest to finish sixth in the Premier League this season.
The calendar year ends with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side second in the table on the back of a five-match winning streak. At the halfway point of the campaign, they are very much in the mix for the European spots.
Carragher has long since rowed back on his original prediction of the Reds being one of the teams bound for relegation. The former Liverpool defender and Neville have now offered their revised opinions on how the standings will look come May, and both believe Forest will finish in sixth place.
Carragher has plumped for Liverpool to win the title, followed by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in second to fourth spots and Newcastle United in fifth. Nevile has predicted Arsenal to come first, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City second to fourth and Villa fifth.
"Most people, even Nottingham Forest, would expect the teams we've got in the top four to finish above them,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. "They've got a sizeable lead right now with only half a season to go. If they can get anywhere near what they've done, they can make it really hard for those teams."
As it stands, the Reds are six points clear of sixth-placed Manchester City and five ahead of Newcastle in fifth. Collective performances have got Forest to where they are but some individuals have also stood out.
Carragher has included Forest striker Chris Wood and defenders Ola Aina and Nikola Milenkovic in his team of the season so far. In Neville’s version, Wood is the only Reds representative.
"Nikola Milenkovic is almost like the Virgil van Dijk of Nottingham Forest,” Carragher explained. “Gary went for (William) Saliba, you had a toss up between Saliba and Gabriel for me. I was actually very close to putting Gabriel in for the defensive record but also because he's the most talked-about defender in the league from what he does at set-pieces. But I just feel what Nottingham Forest do defensively, a lot of it is about that.
"Ola Aina plays right-back and left-back. Every time I watch him he does that job on both sides, and every time I watch him I do look at him and think he could play for a team who expects to be in the Champions League every season. It's the defensive side of it that really impresses me so I felt like I had to get two of their defenders in there."
Carragher’s team of the season so far: David Raya (Arsenal); Ola Aina (Forest), Nikola Milenkovic (Forest), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Antonee Robinson (Fulham); Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Moises Caicedo (Chelsea); Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Chris Wood (Forest).
Neville’s team of the season so far: Raya; Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), William Saliba (Arsenal), Van Dijk, Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City); Gravenberch, Caicedo; Salah, Palmer, Cunha; Wood.
