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“If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there. “

The legendary Brian Clough always had an interesting way of looking at things, and his view of long-ball football was no different.

He might well have been appreciative of passing the ball to feet, but the former Nottingham Forest boss would no doubt be enjoying the novel approach the Reds are taking to secure a return to European football this season.

On Monday they secured a hugely impressive 2-1 win at Tottenham, doing so having seen just 30% of the ball.

That has been the theme for almost all of their games this season, as they sit bottom of the Premier League when it comes to average possession statistics.

But the side that was battling against relegation last term currently sits third in the table and is firmly in the hunt for finishing in the Champions League places.

“We have a clear way to play and when we found ourselves in our identity,” Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo told BBC Match of the Day.

“We had goals [against Tottenham] but also they created chances in the second half and we had to hold on to what we had.

Should Nottingham Forest finish in the top four with their current average possession statistics, they will become the first team to do so with such a low figure.

Leicester City memorably won the Premier League against the odds in 2015-16 and did so with average possession statistics of 42. 4%

But Everton, with 48. 5% in 2004-05, are the only other side to finish in the top four with less than 50% possession on average.

So far this season Forest have seen just 39. 3% possession per game.

Possession, of course, isn’t everything.

Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League and are still in danger of equalling the lowest-ever points total in the top-flight, yet they have gone down with better possession statistics than almost half the rest of the league.

All of this isn’t to say Forest’s football is unattractive.

They are instead masters of winning the ball high up the pitch and then quickly turning that into attacking opportunities through their impressive ball carriers, such as Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

“That’s one of their main characteristics,” said Nuno. “They have the talent to give us these steps forward up the pitch. “

They are also clinical with the chances they get, as shown against Tottenham as they scored two goals from their three efforts on target.

And once they get ahead they rarely let teams back in.

“You cannot ignore when you are in front the priority is to contain and block the game,” said Nuno.

“We help each other in every situation, give balance, help each other, clear things off the line. “

They are also ahead of 12 other Premier League teams in many of the key defensive metrics, making the most clearances and headed clearances, while they rank highly for most interceptions (eight), tackles (seven) and saves (seven).

Only champions-elect Liverpool and second-placed Arsenal can boast a better defence than Forest’s, which has conceded just 39 goals in 33 games, while in Matz Sels they have the goalkeeper who is leading the way in the fight for the Golden Glove this season.

The Belgian has kept 13 clean sheets so far this season in the Premier League and was only denied a 14th by Richarlison’s late header, after stopping the striker with a brilliant save a few minutes earlier.

“You might be critical of other teams for sinking deep, but Forest actually want to do that and say ‘we’ll back ourselves’,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports.

Nottingham Forest seriously boosted their Champions League qualification hopes on Monday with a win at Tottenham that lifted them to third in the Premier League table.

Just three points separate Forest and Aston Villa in seventh, with the Premier League’s top five guaranteed a spot in the Champions League next season.

After Chelsea and Manchester City both won at the weekend Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had slipped from fourth to sixth before their match with Spurs.

But Forest, who have twice lifted the European Cup but haven’t played in Europe’s premier competition since 1980, rallied with a 2-1 win.

As many as 11 European places are up for grabs and there will definitely be a minimum of eight teams – up from the usual seven – playing in Europe next season, but things could change in the coming weeks.

It means Crystal Palace down in 12th still have something to play for.

Liverpool: Tottenham (H); Chelsea (A); Arsenal (H); Brighton (A); Crystal Palace (H)

Arsenal: Crystal Palace (H); Bournemouth (H); Liverpool (A); Newcastle (H); Southampton (A)

Newcastle: Ipswich (H); Brighton (A); Chelsea (H); Arsenal (A); Everton (H)

Nottingham Forest: Brentford (H); Crystal Palace (A); Leicester (H); West Ham (A); Chelsea (H)

Manchester City: Aston Villa (H); Wolves (H); Southampton (A); Bournemouth (H); Fulham (A)

Chelsea: Everton (H); Liverpool (H); Newcastle (A); Manchester United (H); Nottingham Forest (A)

Aston Villa: Manchester City (A); Fulham (H); Bournemouth (A); Tottenham (H); Manchester United (A)

Bournemouth: Manchester United (H); Arsenal (A); Aston Villa (H); Manchester City (A); Leicester (H)

Fulham: Southampton (A); Aston Villa (A); Everton (H); Brentford (A); Manchester City (H)

Brighton: West Ham (H); Newcastle (H); Wolves (A); Liverpool (H); Tottenham (A)

Brentford: Nottingham Forest (A); Manchester United (H); Ipswich (A); Fulham (H); Wolves (A)

Depending on how things pan out this season there will be between eight and 11 teams from the Premier League taking part in Europe next season.

A minimum of five of those will be in the Champions League, which is higher than the usual four because of England’s performance in Uefa’s coefficient rankings.

The maximum number of Premier League teams who could be competing in the Europa League is three.

Two places will likely go to the team who finishes sixth and the FA Cup winners.

However, if the cup winners have already secured a European place it will then go to the next highest placed side that has not qualified for Europe.

There will be one Conference League place awarded to a Premier League team.

Currently, that will go to Carabao Cup winners Newcastle, but that could change if Eddie Howe’s side qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League.

As Newcastle currently sit inside the top four that looks likely.

This could happen, but it is highly improbable.

It would require Arsenal to win the Champions League, Manchester United or Tottenham to win the Europa League and Chelsea to lift the Conference League trophy, and all three winners to finish outside the top six.

Halo World Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 19 April to 5 May

Emotionally “drained” four-time champion John Higgins beat Joe O’Connor 10-7 in a tense affair as he reached the second round of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre.

Higgins who turns 50 in May, overturned a 5-4 deficit from Monday morning to lead 7-6 at the mid-session interval while remarkably compiling just one break above 50, a superb century in the 12th frame.

But he struggled the shake off the Englishman until O’Connor failed to capitalise on several chances to win a dramatic 15th frame, that Higgins took to go 8-7 up.

The Scot crafted a wonderful 114 break to move further ahead and another half century helped him seal his victory.

Higgins had been cast as one of the favourites to triumph in Sheffield after winning the World Open – where he defeated O’Connor in the final – and impressively beating Mark Selby in the final of the Tour Championship.

However, his plans were thrown into doubt when his father-in-law became seriously ill on the eve of the tournament.

And he was visibly emotional while speaking to BBC Sport at the end of his contest with O’Connor.

“I left my apartment and I was in tears,” Higgins said.

“That was the most emotional I have ever been today. Obviously my father-in-law wasn’t great.

“I was sitting having dinner with my boy last night and I was thinking about sitting here with my dad 25 years ago. I was drained today.

“I had a couple of hours sleep and I came out tonight and felt a lot better and played a lot better. I am still so proud that I am still playing at a good level at this age. “

Meanwhile, Mark Allen beat China’s Fan Zhengyi 10-6 to book his place in the second round for the fifth consecutive year.

The 39-year-old from Northern Ireland, who had trailed 3-0 before fighting back to lead 5-4 overnight, made breaks of 88 and 102 on his way to setting up a last-16 tie with qualifier Chris Wakelin.

Allen, a former Masters and UK Championship winner, is bidding for a first world title to complete the full set of Triple Crown event victories.

The world number eight told BBC Two: “It was a bit of a shaky start yesterday and I thought Fan was very good at the start. I was really happy to be 5-4 in front overnight and I played some really good snooker today.

“I stole two frames in a row that I had no real right to win and it made the scoreline look a little flattering at the interval – 9-4 could have easily been 7-6 and then it would have been game on.

“I didn’t close it out as clinically as I would have liked but I finished off nicely. “

Allen is joined in round two by Zhao Xintong, who wrapped up a comfortable 10-4 victory over 2024 runner-up Jak Jones.

Jones’ exit means both of last year’s finalists have exited the 2025 event in the first round, following defending champion Kyren Wilson’s defeat by Lei Peifan on Saturday.

Zhao will meet fellow Chinese player Lei for a place in the quarter-finals.

In Monday afternoon’s other first-round contest, three-time UK champion Ding Junhui opened up a 6-3 advantage against world number 73 Zak Surety.

Debutant Surety struggled to settled early on and was 4-0 down before he found any rhythm at all.

However, the Englishman regrouped after the mid-session pause and made a century break as he took three of the remaining five frames to limit the damage prior to Tuesday afternoon’s concluding session.

Zhao’s first-round display was one of the most impressive of any player during the tournament so far.

The 28-year-old led 7-2 overnight and, after Jones took the first two frames of the morning, Zhao won the next three with breaks of 70, 55 and 87 to defeat the 16th seed from Wales.

Zhao is competing as an amateur in his first World Championship appearance since 2022, having completed a 20-month suspension earlier this season.

The former UK Championship winner was one of 10 players banned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing. He did not directly throw a match, but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches, and betting on matches himself.

But he will return to the professional ranks next season and both Jones and former world champion Neil Robertson saying they expect him to contend in Sheffield.

“I’m so happy he said that and I will try my best,” said Zhao when told of Robertson’s comments.

“Hopefully in the future, we will have a Chinese world champion here and we are trying to do that. “

Jones, 31, added: “Zhao looked really sharp, the qualifiers have done him good, and I’ve had two best-of-sevens in the past 10 weeks or so.

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