They couldn't, right? Fifty years after Brian Clough walked into the City Ground and changed this club forever, Nottingham Forest are dreaming of an achievement that would have made their greatest manager proud beyond words.
If Nuno Espirito Santo's side claim their seventh successive league win when they face Liverpool at the City Ground on January 14, they will move within three points of Arne Slot's league leaders. Achieve a league double against the Reds and suddenly anything seems possible.
Those scoffing at Forest's title chances should remember two words: Leicester City. Everyone thought Claudio Ranieri's team would fail to stay the course in 2016 and instead they wrote the greatest Premier League story ever told. Maybe until now.
Look at this Forest team and it's hard to see a weakness. In Matz Sels they have one of the best goalkeepers in the league, and Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo are probably their strongest centre-back pairing.
In midfield, Elliot Anderson and Nicolás Domínguez have technique and athleticism, Morgan Gibbs-White is an excellent playmaker and they have speedsters Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the wings. Not to mention Chris Wood, a center forward in the best shape of his life.
It is no surprise that Nuno is reluctant to change too much during the January transfer window, for fear of upsetting the strong team spirit he has worked so hard to build.
Morgan Gibbs-White needed just seven minutes to silence the booing Wolves crowd.
The midfielder made a good shot to open the scoring in Nottingham Forest's 2-0 victory.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men remain third in the standings and tied on points with Arsenal
Forest also enjoys that quality that no ambitious team can do without: luck. Revived under Vitor Pereira, Wolves played well here and deserved more, especially in the first half. but they found Sels inspired and Jorgen Strand Larsen unusually hesitant in front of goal.
When you create opportunities against this highly organized Forest team, you better take them. Wolves were duly punished with first-half goals from Gibbs-White (reprimanded once again on his return to this stadium) and Wood, while substitute Taiwo Awoniyi added a third later. The home team could not match that clinical advantage and that is why they are above the bottom three only on goal difference.
The Forest fans' confidence was instantly evident as they sang a song about qualifying for the Champions League and their optimism was justified when their team took an early lead, exploiting a makeshift three-Wolves defense that included two orthodox full-backs: Matt Doherty and Rayan. Ait Nouri. The Wolves were also without key attacker Matheus Cunha due to suspension.
There has been plenty of tension between Wolves and Gibbs-White since the playmaker left Molineux for Forest in the summer of 2022, but some of the chants directed at the 24-year-old in the early stages were particularly somber. It was no surprise what happened next.
After a Wolves move failed, Gibbs-White slipped forward and exchanged passes with Anthony Elanga before firing home from 12 yards via a deflection off Doherty. Gibbs-White ran towards the South Bank and stared at them, doing his usual fingers-in-ears celebration. They stayed silent, it's okay.
The goal seemed to be exactly the change Vitor Pereira's team needed. Hee Chan Hwang took advantage of a loose pass from Elliot Anderson and slid the ball towards the goal, where Murillo made a decisive save just as Jorgen Strand Larsen prepared to equalize.
Less than a minute later, Rodrigo Gomes volleyed brilliantly towards goal, but Matz Sels made an even better save. From the corner, Sels did well again to pinch the ball from Gonçalo Guedes.
Although the wolves attacked well, they rushed when they needed to be calm. Both Hwang and Ait-Nouri comically made their way through the crowd from promising positions, and Ait-Nouri was already relieved not to have conceded a penalty when Ola Aina's cross hit his hand. The wolves should have tied moments before, yes.
Chris Wood (right) found the second just before half-time for the visitors that night.
The 33-year-old finished with his left foot on the stroke of half-time to double the lead.
The defeat was the first under Vitor Pereira for Wolves, who now sit 17th in the table.
Just as Manchester United had targeted Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield on Sunday, Wolves did the same with Ola Aina 24 hours later. After half an hour, Rodrigo attacked Forest's right back again and sent him a perfect cross. With the target in mind, Strand Larsen headed straight for Sels at point-blank range.
It's hard to imagine Wood wasting such an opportunity and Forest's top scorer showed his ruthlessness again a minute before half-time. Doherty was exposed by Callum Hudson-Odoi, who beat him to the byline and cut the ball into the danger zone, where a push from Wood's left boot did the rest.
The Wolves tried to gain momentum early in the second half. However, against this Forest team, opening the door is one of the most difficult jobs.
Milenkovic and Murillo destroyed everything in central defense, unless the midfield duo in front of them, Anderson and Domínguez, had beaten them to it. And given the speed of Elanga and Hudson-Odoi, Wolves were always vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Taiwo Awoniyi found Forest's third after putting the finishing touches on a counterattack.
Dominguez was replaced by Morato on the hour as Nuno moved from a defense four to a defense three to try to secure the result. Forest almost did so when Elanga burst into the area and Anderson's shot was blocked by Santi Bueno.
By now, Wolves had made their own changes, allowing Ait-Nouri to move forward more frequently. Receiving a pass from substitute Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Ait-Nouri launched a cross goal and South Bank howled when there was no one there to finish the ball.
They were frustrated again when Guedes carried 50 yards and fed Strand Larsen only for Sels to again deny the Norwegian. Awoniyi then made it the perfect night for Forest with the third in stoppage time.
Could they? You better believe it.