- Forest are competing for the title in what has been a great season.
- Several areas of their team have allowed them to be successful under Nuno
- LISTEN NOW: It's all starting! Is Everton where they deserve to be or are the club's fans deceived?
Walking into the City Ground this season is like a throwback to the glory days of Brian Clough.
There is a generation of Nottingham Forest fans old enough to remember those triumphs, but now they have a team that carries the younger fans with them.
This title-chasing Forest team embraces its golden era but with a modern twist. There are long balls, long shots and long periods defending on the edge of their area, but they are comfortable on the ball. They attract teams and punish them.
Just look at his goal against Liverpool. Forest won the ball aggressively on the halfway line and, in two passes, cut through the entire Liverpool team to pass to Chris Wood. He's crafty, old school, and plays to his strengths.
Don't underestimate wood
Wood is a good target. Drop deep, develop the game and activate the pressure.
His movement is very intelligent and he can score with both feet and with his head. His shot against Liverpool, with his weaker foot, was truly precise.
Chris Wood has been brilliant for Nottingham Forest up front – he can score all sorts of goals.
Nuno (right) has made the City Ground look like a throwback to the Brian Clough era with a modern twist.
extreme workaholics
Is there a better right-back in the country than Ola Aina, whose huge delivery is another welcome nod to a bygone era? On the other flank, Neco Williams comes in with his right foot and sends balls into the channels for Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Those two are workaholics. They block passes towards the opponent's forwards, but are prepared to launch the attack.
Forest have potentially the best right-back in the country and two workaholic wingers.
The new Shilts
Cloughie said a great goalie is worth 15 points a season. How many has Matz Sels Bosque already won? He has saved more than three-quarters of the shots he has faced, the best percentage of any starting goaltender.
It's rekindling memories of the legendary Peter Shilton. Sels also keeps it simple with the ball at his feet. Eighty percent of his goal kicks go long. If Forest leads late, coach Nuno Espirito Santo will switch to five defenders and put up the defensive shield.
Forest have only conceded three goals in the last 15 minutes of the game.
Matz Sels is reliving memories of Peter Shilton, saving more than three-quarters of the shots he has faced.
Evangelos Marinakis hugged his players after the clash with Liverpool, reminding many of Clough
There is a generation of Forest fans who will remember the good times Clough brought to the club.
Making a Leicester
I see comparisons with the 2015-16 Leicester team. Not only because they counterattacked but it was a team full of players discarded by big clubs, like this Forest.
Hudson-Odoi and Aina, unwanted at Chelsea. Elanga at Manchester United. Wood and midfielder Elliot Anderson in Newcastle. Williams in Liverpool. Even Nuno, fired by the Spurs.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis proudly hugged his players as they left the field against Liverpool. That also reminded me of Cloughie.
If Liverpool slip up on Saturday, a Forest win on Sunday would put them right next to the leaders, who would have believed it a year ago.