Photo: NIGEL KEENE
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea
Kick-off: 3am Monday 26 May (NZT)
City Ground, Nottingham
It has been a remarkable season for Chris Wood and his Nottingham Forest teammates. After being tipped for relegation by many at the beginning of the campaign, this weekend Forest have a shot at qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, in what might be the biggest game of Wood's club career. It would be a massive coup for a side who have not played in Europe's elite competition in 45 years, when it was called the European Cup, a competition they won on two occasions under their-legendary head coach Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980.
New Zealand men's national team captain Wood's goalscoring form has fired Forest to their lofty position of seventh in the English top-flight. In doing so, he joined an elite group of players who can boast having scored 20 goals in a Premier League campaign. While a place in Europe is secured, joining the cream of the continental crop in the Champions League relies on a long list of permutations in Forest's final game of the season.
How many teams qualify for the Champions League?
England has secured an additional Champions League spot due to good performances which means the top five in the Premier League now qualify for Europe's elite competition. There will in fact be six teams in the competition, as the winner of the UEFA Europa League final between 16th place Manchester United and 17th place Tottenham Hotspur will also qualify for the Champions League. Forest therefore need to jump two places to qualify for the Champions League - with Manchester City, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Aston Villa all vying for the same outcome on the Premier League's final day this weekend.
Photo: supplied
Who are Forest playing?
Chris Wood with his Nottingham Forest team-mates, 2025. Photo: AFP
This makes things even more interesting as the Tricky Trees' final game of the season is at home to one of those teams - Chelsea. The Blues are in fifth place but just one point ahead of Wood's Forest. The All Whites captain scored in the previous fixture between the two sides at Stamford Bridge in October - a game which ended 1-1.
Key fixtures
Nottingham Forest (7) v Chelsea (5)
Fulham v Manchester City (3)
Manchester United v Aston Villa (6)
Newcastle United (4) v Everton
All games kick-off at 3am Monday 26 May (NZT)
Photo: AFP / NurPhoto/ MI News
So what happens if Forest lose?
Seventh. Forest will finish the day in the position they started and will be playing in the UEFA Conference League, Europe's sort-of third-tier competition next season.
So what happens if Forest draw?
Then a Champions League place looks unlikely. They'd potentially be able to leapfrog Aston Villa should they lose at Old Trafford - which would secure UEFA Europa League football next season. However, Chelsea would stretch away from them with a portion of the shared spoils and Newcastle would need to get absolutely smashed by Everton to bring their goal difference down. In short, a draw is probably not enough.
So what happens if Forest win?
That depends. Forest will move on to 68 points and will definitely leapfrog Chelsea, as their victory will come at the expense of the West London side. That would also mean a place in next season's Europa League. But to finish in the top five, and qualify for the Champions League, they would also need either Aston Villa to draw or lose at Manchester United or Newcastle to drop points at home to Everton.
Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest celebrates after scoring. Photo: AFP
How likely is it?
As you'd expect for Wood's team, considering they start the day on the lowest rung of this ladder, the odds are against them. Beating Chelsea is already a tough task but the favours needed from other teams look doubtful. Aston Villa face a Manchester United side either celebrating or commiserating after a midweek Europa League final against Spurs. Newcastle, meanwhile, are taking on Everton - who cannot budge from their 13th position in the table and are, as local colloquialism would have it, 'on the beach' already.
According to the boffins who have crunched some numbers Forest have a 19.66 percent chance of reaching the top five but Wood and his buddies have certainly overcome all preconceptions already this season - why not one more?
