L2 | S3 | W25: Forest stun Portsmouth to reach the League Cup final from 14th in Division 4

📰 Week 25 in Review – Season 3

Six games left and the European Elites is serving up almost everything at once. The Division 1 title race has five clubs covered by six points and no sign of any of them pulling away. Division 2’s top spot was settled weeks ago but the second automatic promotion place is still very much alive. Division 3’s runaway leader is closing in on something historic. And Division 4 has delivered the most extraordinary subplot of the entire season – a club sitting 14th in the fourth tier is now in the League Cup final.

Nottingham Forest beat Portsmouth 2-1 in Week 25’s League Cup semi-final to set up a final against Sporting Lisbon on Week 29. Chris Houldey’s side are also in the Supremos Cup semi-finals in Week 27. They are, to put it plainly, the most interesting club in the league right now.

🏆 Division 1 – Walsall’s Surge and a Four-Goal Friday

Rapid Vienna extended their lead at the top to two points with a 3-1 win away at Athletic Bilbao, Bernacci helping himself to a hat-trick. Paul Lamming’s side are up to 44 points and look the most likely champions, but Heart of Midlothian climbed to third on 41 after beating FC Porto 1-0 thanks to a Bunbury header – their fourth win in five. This is now a genuine five-way race: Vienna, Atletico Madrid (42), Hearts (41), Southend United (40) and Sporting Lisbon (38) all still in contention with six rounds left.

💡 The story further down the table is Walsall, who climbed four places this week after a 2-0 home win over Marseille – Rooney and Fowler both on the scoresheet inside the first 24 minutes. Michael Kensett’s side are now sixth on 37 and have won four of their last five. They sit on the form table’s top half and could yet gate-crash the promotion picture if things go wrong above them.

Meanwhile Southend United put in the result of the week in Division 1, dismantling Rangers 4-0 with Andrade and Larsen sharing the goals – a performance that jumps them up to fourth. Rangers, now five games without a win, are beginning to look dangerously close to the drop zone on 26 points. Real Madrid are effectively down: 18 points, winless in five, a goal difference of -13, and Bayer Leverkusen are now six points clear of them in 15th. One of those two sides is almost certainly going to Division 2 next season – and it is looking increasingly like it will be Real.

⚠️ Real Madrid have now gone five consecutive league matches without a win. They had 18 points after 25 games. Even if they win every remaining fixture they may not escape. The Santiago Bernabéu, packed out this season, could be hosting Division 2 football in Season 4.

💙 Division 2 – Ansó Fires as Middlesbrough Close In

Birmingham City drew 2-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain – Arshavin with both goals for the visitors, Haaland equalising twice for the hosts – but with Leigh Bailey’s side on 52 points and a five-point lead over Middlesbrough, the Division 2 title is all but wrapped up. The race that matters now is for second, and Middlesbrough are firmly in the driving seat after a 3-2 away win at Tottenham Hotspur.

💡 Javier Ansó has been Middlesbrough’s most dangerous player across the run-in. This week he scored twice at Spurs – minutes 5 and 58, sandwiching a Bocic goal – to seal a 3-2 away win. He has now contributed goals in five of his last seven appearances. Greg C’s side have lost just one of their last five and carry the best recent form in Division 2 by some distance, averaging 2.60 points per game across their last five.

The other major storyline is at the bottom. Liverpool won away at Portsmouth 2-1 – Núñez and Christie doing the damage – a result that lifts them to 21 points but still leaves them in deep trouble. Manchester United remain on 15 points after losing 0-1 at home to Fulham, Soares scoring inside three minutes. David Hopkins acknowledged on the Notice Board that he intends to see the season out regardless – credit to him for not walking away. Both United and Liverpool need something close to a perfect run-in to survive, and their next fixtures do not get easier.

❤️ Division 3 – Bristol Rovers on the Verge of Something Special

Bristol Rovers beat Napoli 2-0 at the Memorial Stadium, Eggestein and Zekhnini both on the scoresheet, to move eight points clear at the top with six games remaining. David Griffiths’ side have 56 points, 12 home wins, and have not lost away all season. That last statistic is the one that stands out – unbeaten in 12 away matches across a 30-game season is a remarkable achievement at any level, and it tells you something about how well-organised this squad is beyond their own ground.

💡 Aberdeen and Charlton Athletic remain level on 48 points, separated only by goal difference (+17 vs +16). Aberdeen beat Sevilla 2-1, with Rodrigues and Suker scoring. Charlton beat Bradford City 2-1, Mendonca and Kinsella the scorers. They face each other in Week 26 (Arsenal host Aberdeen) – the battle for second, and the psychological advantage that comes with it, is going to go right to the wire.

At the other end, Crystal Palace remain 16th on 16 points after a 1-0 home win over Leicester City – a rare bright spot but almost certainly too little, too late. The dugout at Selhurst Park remains empty, and Crystal Palace go into the final stretch with no manager in place. Celtic picked up a fine 3-0 win over Chelsea – Thompson, Cadete and Bergkamp all scoring – to keep Mark Cowie’s side in the fight to avoid finishing bottom, while Chelsea themselves remain on 18 points and winless in their last five. Watford’s 1-2 home defeat to Arsenal continued their own slide – they are 13th on 28 and have dropped five places in the last four weeks.

💛 Division 4 – Forest in the Final, but the League Doesn’t Lie

Let us deal with the elephant in the room first. Nottingham Forest are 14th in Division 4 on 23 points. They have lost nine away games. They have conceded 19 goals on the road. On league form alone, Chris Houldey’s side look like a club fighting to avoid finishing in the bottom four. And yet they have just beaten Portsmouth 2-1 to reach the League Cup final, where they will face Sporting Lisbon on Week 29. They are also in the Supremos Cup semi-finals in Week 27 against Norwich City. How a club can be so average in the league and so effective in cups is one of the more baffling storylines of Season 3.

⚠️ Cardiff lost away at Manchester City 0-1 – Bongonda with the only goal – their first defeat in five, and a result that keeps the top of Division 4 from settling down. Leeds beat Forest 2-0, Morata scoring twice, which closes the gap to three points. AC Milan climbed to third with a 2-1 win at York City (Viduka and Balotelli). At the bottom, Manchester City are on 19 points and Ajax have slipped to 16 – three and six points off the safety places respectively. With six games left, it is close enough to matter.

Accrington Stanley deserve a mention here too. Steve Walker’s side beat AS Monaco 1-0 through Malen to move to 31 points – they have now won four of their last five and climbed to tenth. A club that looked mid-table ordinary two months ago is now pushing toward the top half and carrying genuine momentum heading into the run-in.

🏆 League Cup – Final Set

The League Cup semi-finals are done, and the final is confirmed. Nottingham Forest beat Portsmouth 2-1 at the City Ground to advance, with Clubs who went out in the semi-finals receiving £220,000 each. Sporting Lisbon beat Charlton Athletic 4-1 on penalties in the other tie to set up the Week 29 final.

The final pairing is extraordinary. Sporting Lisbon are third in Division 1, fifth in the European Elites overall by points, and managed by Alan Downie – a highly organised, promotion-chasing side. Their opponents, Nottingham Forest, are 14th in Division 4. The prize money split is £550,000 for the winner and £330,000 for the runner-up. Forest have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

🗞️ Around the League

This was a Player Form week, with the tables covering all positions across the full league. In goal, R. Pereira leads the momentum form rankings with a perfect 100% score, ahead of a cluster of keepers from Division 4 sides. Among outfield players, Javier Ansó of Middlesbrough heads the attackers’ chart on 4.87 momentum form, with Madueke of Atletico Madrid narrowly ahead in the top-25 overall. Ansó’s season-to-date impact rating of 4.00 marks him as one of the most consistently influential players in the league.

This week’s score draw competition produced three correct guesses from four matching scorelines. Congratulations to Matt Rose of Lazio, Kris Bond of Port Vale, and Alan Downie of Sporting Lisbon – £266,666 each.

Televised games this week were FC Porto vs Heart of Midlothian (D1), Bayern Munich vs Inter Milan (D2), Aberdeen vs Sevilla FC (D3) and York City vs AC Milan (D4). Hearts’ win at Porto would have made good television.

The police report makes for grim reading: crowd trouble at Paris Saint-Germain vs Birmingham City in the league produced 37 arrests, four officers injured and £67,012 of stadium damage. Things were worse in the friendlies – the Lazio vs Inter Milan game saw 55 arrests and £79,229 in damage, while Grimsby Town vs Sheffield United resulted in 52 arrests, seven officers injured and £79,856 of damage done to the stadium. A bad week on the terraces.

Crystal Palace and Austria Vienna both remain without managers – Palace in 16th in Division 3 and Vienna in 8th in Division 4 (though unmanaged, Vienna are on 35 points, which is a decent tally for a side running on autopilot).

🔍 The Biggest Fan Base table makes for interesting reading alongside the league standings. Nottingham Forest top the Division 4 fan base chart with 105,903 supporters – the fifth-highest in the entire league. A club of that size sitting 14th in the fourth tier, yet somehow competing in two cup finals. The fan base knows what this club is capable of.