Nottingham Forest keep on winning, Arsenal’s Nwaneri out for month, Saniz’s Dakar Rally over

Nottingham Forest make it six from six in the Premier League, while politicians have urged England’s cricketers to boycott Afghanistan game

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Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood celebrates scoring his side’s second against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium. Photo: DPA

Published: 7:30am, 7 Jan 2025

Monday was very much a case of the calm after the storm in Hong Kong, with everyone taking a breath following that busy weekend.

The main story of the day was China table tennis legend Ma Long hinting that the National Games could be his swansong, while Indonesia decided to upend a perfectly good Fifa World Cup qualifying run by sacking South Korean boss Shin Tae-young.

Another manager who could be sacked in the next 48 hours is West Ham boss Julien Lopetegui, although club officials have been threatening to do that since before Christmas, so who knows. Anyway, here’s a brief look at what happened while you were sleeping.

Forest win again

Nottingham Forest are the best team in the Premier League at the moment, and it’s not even close – which is not a sentence I ever expected to write.

Monday’s 3-0 win over Wolves was the sixth straight victory, the first time a Forest side has managed that in the top flight since 1979, and the first time in the same season since 1966-67.

Orlen Jipocar Team’s Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka in action during the Dakar Rally. Photo: Reuters

Morgan Gibbs-White, Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniy all scored, and Forest are now level on points with second-placed Arsenal, and six behind leaders Liverpool – who they play next Tuesday and have beaten once already this season.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been getting a lot of praise, and Wood said the manager had instilled “confidence, belief, [and] responsibility in a team that works to all our strengths”.