Are Nottingham Forest turning a corner in their season?
Nottingham Forest picked up a much needed win on Saturday as they beat Liverpool 1-0 to temporarily move off the bottom of the Premier League. They did end the weekend at the foot of the table as a result of Leicester's win over Wolves. But the win over Liverpool will hopefully give them something to build on. So are they turning a point in their season?
It's been a difficult first season back for Forest as they've had to bed in a whole load of new players and manager Steve Cooper has spent the majority of the season finding his best 11. But Saturday's win over Liverpool should speed that up as it looks like he's found a system that can help his side get results and 11 players who he can trust to perform.
The change in formation from a back three to a back four has helped as they're looking more solid defensively and difficult to beat. Playing this system has helped them keep back to back clean sheets which should give them something to build on. If they can, their season could well be turning a corner.
Jesse Marsch under pressure at Leeds
No win since August and now sit inside the relegation zone. It's fair to say that Jesse Marsch is no doubt under pressure at Leeds. Some of their fans turned on the manager after their defeat to Fulham on Sunday and understandably so as they're not winning games.
Their performances in some of their recent games haven't been that bad as they've played some good football at times. But they weren't able to turn those promising performances into wins. They made a bright start against Fulham but couldn't keep it up as they conceded just 6 minutes after taking the lead. They've been unable to build on good starts and make the most of their dominance and both have cost them in recent games
hence why they haven't won those games where that has been the case.
They made a reasonably good start to the campaign where they won two of their opening four games. But since then it has gone downhill and they now find themselves in the bottom three with another potential relegation battle looming.
Leicester have their confidence back
Leicester looked like a team who were all over the place defensively and low on confidence earlier in the season. But after three wins from five games which have moved them out of the bottom three, their confidence appears to be well and truly back.
Since the international break they've looked more assured at the back and it's played a huge part in keeping four clean sheets during their five game unbeaten run. They were conceding goals from pretty much everywhere in the early weeks of the season and they appear to have addressed that issue with the signing of Wout Faes. The Belgian central defender has looked rock solid in pretty much every game he's played for the Foxes since his arrival in the summer and he certainly was in their win over Wolves on Sunday. He's stepped up following the departure of Wesley Fofana and he's also formed a strong partnership with Jonny Evans.
Going forward they're looking more like their energetic selves as they're moving the ball quicker and pressing opponents high up the pitch. They weren't doing enough of this earlier in the season as they were struggling to get results. But now they're back at it they have more confidence on board and are getting better results because of it.
Are Newcastle pushing for Europe?
Newcastle moved into the top four at the weekend as a result of their 2-1 win at Spurs. They've lost just once all season and have won won four of their last five games to get them into that position. Having taken points off City earlier in the season alongside beating Spurs; Are they pushing for Europe?
The Magpies would be more than happy with a top 10 finish this season as that was probably a more realistic aim at the start of the season. They finished 11th last season despite spending most of it in a relegation battle and it looks like they're going to finish higher this season given the form and current position they're in.
Challenging for Europe was seen more as a long term target when the new owners came in as the club have spent the last few seasons finishing in mid-table whilst trying to stay in the division. It would be some achievement if they were to challenge for Europe this season simply because of how far they've come in the space of a year. They've got some players who can help them do that and especially the newish ones who have more experience of playing at a higher level than the players who have been at the club longer.
If they can get results against the other big teams and stay within the European places for most of the season, they could well challenge for those spots.
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