Nottingham Forest

HE IS the English striker formerly of Stoke, Yeovil and Weymouth in a  shootout for the MLS Golden Boot with Lionel Messi.

Sam Surridge, now of Nashville SC, is on 23 league strikes, just one behind the Greatest Of All Time — as well as LAFC’s Denis Bouanga — in the Stateside goalscoring stakes.

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The ex-England Under-21 international has the odds stacked against him as he has only one game left to take the crown, as opposed to Messi’s two and Bouanga’s three.

And, in an exciting twist of fixture fate, that solitary match is at home to the iconic Argentinian’s Inter Miami a week today.

Yet Surridge, who played in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, told SunSport: “I’ve probably got to get a hat-trick so it’s not going to be easy.

“But at the same time I’ll always back myself to score and it would be an amazing achievement.

“We’re fighting at a really good point in our league. We just won the cup and we need to get into the top four to get a good play-off spot.

“I’ll do as much as I can to do it.

“It’s great. Just to mention my name along with his is a huge achievement.”

Berkshire-born Surridge came through the ranks at Bournemouth under Eddie Howe and had formative lower-league loans at Weymouth, Poole Town, Yeovil, Oldham and Swansea.

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He had a half a season at Stoke before moving to  Forest, where he played 20 Premier League games in 2022-23 but netted only once.

His world has changed completely, however, since moving to the other side of the Pond in 2023.

He is now the main man with Tennessee side Nashville.

Though he has Messi to thank for convincing him to make the revitalising switch in the first place.

Surridge will hope his upcoming meeting with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner goes better than the last one, when Miami won 2-1 thanks to Messi’s double — including a sublime free-kick.

The 27-year-old added: “At first I didn’t want to come here because I just wanted to stay in England.

“But then I saw Messi join Inter Miami and I knew they were going to host the World Cup and the size of the league was going to grow.

“Since I’ve been here, the standard has been getting better and better every year.

“Going into that game against Miami in July, we were on a ten-game unbeaten streak, I was on 16, he was on 14.

‘IT WAS CRAZY’

“I remember we gave a foul away on the edge of the box and you just knew he was going to score from it.

“It was crazy — you knew exactly where he was going to put the ball. And he did.

“You’re trying to focus on the game but at the same time you know he’s playing. It’s not easy.

“He is coming to the end of his career but he only won the Ballon d’Or two years ago.”

Surridge has been relishing his role as Nashville’s go-to guy up top and recently scored the match-winning goal to clinch the US Open Cup — America’s equivalent of the FA Cup.

It was the first piece of silverware in Tennessee in a long time, although Surridge was sent off right at the end of the game for two late yellows.

Surridge puts his inspired form in part down to the recent birth of son Noah.

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He added: “In the past, I’ve probably let it eat me up when I’ve had a bad game or not scored a goal.

“But now as one game is gone, I’m straight on to the next, back home with my family and being a dad.

“That’s a massive factor (in my form) this season, giving me that renewed focus.” Surridge is experiencing week in, week out the soaring temperatures that Harry Kane and the rest of the England team will have to deal with at the World Cup next summer.

And forward Surridge, who played with the likes of Marc Guehi for the Young Lions, said: “I know England are going to find it hard to cope with the weather over here because it’s not easy adjusting to it.

“There’s going to be a lot of South American teams that are used to it.

“Especially when you go to places like Miami, and places more south of Nashville, it’s not easy to play in the heat. There’s going to be a lot of toing and froing, sitting off and trying to break teams down.

“They should be pushing the games back because we play at 7pm most games and it’s still ridiculously hot.

“At the Club World Cup, I’ve seen them play at games at 2pm and 3pm in the 30-degree heat and it’s almost impossible.”

‘PICKING THE MOMENTS’

So what would his advice be for Thomas Tuchel’s side braving the heat?

The striker replied: “It’s not saving yourself in games, it’s more about picking the moments.

“Because as soon as you get into a full-on sprint in that heat, it’s hard to get your breath back.

“I think managers will set up their teams differently for that reason.

“You see pressing teams where they’re full-on pressing and, as soon as they break down, they’re going to struggle.

“It’s about conserving your energy where you can.”

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ANGE POSTECOGLOU fears he will be SACKED if Nottingham Forest lose to Newcastle — just 24 days after he took charge.

The former Tottenham boss is yet to win a single game since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo.

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And he believes he is now on the brink at the City Ground — despite publicly claiming he’s not thinking about the sack.

Postecoglou’s latest setback saw Forest lose 3-2 at home to Midtjylland in the Europa League last night.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis had a face like thunder as supporters booed the dismal performance while calling for the manager’s head.

Postecoglou is now the first Forest boss in 100 years to fail to win any of his opening six matches.

And SunSport understands that the Aussie fears he will be sacked for a second time in four months should Forest lose to Newcastle this weekend.

Postecoglou was given the chop by Spurs in June just days after leading the Londoners to Europa League glory.

He was drafted by Marinakis in September following the Forest owner’s fallout with former boss Nuno.

But another change at the helm is now being considered after defeats to Arsenal, Swansea and Sunderland in September.

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Postecoglou’s other two games saw him draw against Burnley and Real Betis.

However, he maintains he is not thinking about an exit and is hopeful of getting a result against Newcastle.

Postecoglou said on Friday: “I get it. It’s a valid assumption in modern football there’s always a manager under pressure, that’s part and parcel of what we do. 

“I don’t think that way. I knew I was getting sacked at Tottenham three or four months before I did. 

“It didn’t stop me winning something. It doesn’t enter my head. If I start worrying about what’s going to happen next week, I’m not performing the role I’ve been given. 

“It’s not helpful to anyone. The things I control are the environment training, the way we play. I am strong in my belief we are not too far away.”

IT will come as no surprise to their stylish famous fans, but Chelsea supporters are the best dressed in the Premier League.

The club’s followers are most likely to wear a smart suit for a night out, a survey has revealed.

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Celebrity fans including Gordon Ramsay, Jeremy Clarkson, David Baddiel, Madness singer Suggs and actor Phil Daniels are always well turned out for a trip to the club’s Stamford Bridge home — and regular fans have followed suit.

But it’s not really a surprise, as back in the Seventies Chelsea’s players, including Alan Hudson and Peter Osgood, were known as the kings of the King’s Road for their fashionable sense of style.

And the club’s 21st-century fans have maintained the tradition, according to research by betting site freebet.com, with 16 per cent getting suited and booted for a big night.

While fans of Newcastle, Burnley and Wolves were in the relegation zone with just one per cent being bothered to look smart.

The table shows there’s a clear North/South divide when it comes to off-the-pitch style.

The top seven spots are filled by teams from London and the south, with Man City and Leeds sharing eighth place with Brentford and West Ham with five per cent.

Spokesman Tim Agnew said: “Our research shows Chelsea fans are the best dressed fans in the Premier League.

“They already had a reputation for wearing Gucci and Prada and our research confirms Chelsea fans like to look sharp.”

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ANGE Postecoglou was left cursing his luck as Martin Dubravka’s stunning double kept him waiting for a first win.

Clarets keeper Dubravka pulled off two stunning stops in two amazing minutes, to leave Postecoglou throwing his hands up in frustration on the touchline.

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To be fair, it was no more than Burnley merited, in a game neither deserved to lose – or did enough to win – yet for Ange it is three games and counting as Forest chief without a victory.

First Dubravka went full length to push away an Igor Jesus header with the Forest sub’s first touch off the bench.

But while that was good, the Slovak stopper’s next was out of this world, getting down superbly to push Neco Williams’ volley behind as it flew through a packed area.

Mind you, defeat would have been harsh on a Clarets side which had gone ahead after barely 90 seconds. 

With a start like that,, you felt maybe their ill fortune of recent weeks was about to change.

Seven days ago a rush-of-blood handball gifted Liverpool a last-gasp penalty winner, while a fortnight earlier there was an even harsher spot kick in an Old Trafford loss.

Well there was no luck involved in Williams’ early opener – just a finger-snapping strike that flew in.

When Fiorentino turned away a Douglas Luiz corner to the edge of the box, Williams hit a rocket that took a slight deflection, but not enough to deviate off a true line.

It certainly didn’t impact Dubravka’s chances of saving it – he wouldn’t have got close in any case – for the Welsh defender’s third goal in 111 Forest appearances.

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Opposite number Quilindschy Hartman got in on the act with his own screamer which, while it was never likely to catch out Matz Sels, certainly warmed his palms.

And then Olekssandr Zinchenko joined in the full back fun with a swerving long ranger that Clarets keeper Dubravka was happy to beat away.

If the Ukraine defender was nearly a hero at one end, he was swiftly case in the role of villain just minutes later, as Burnley levelled.

He was initially outjumped by Lyle Foster as Hartman hung up a deep cross which fell kindly for Jaidon Anthony on the left of the box.

Anthony’s strike was anything but crisp, although it was at least on target and would probably have crept in of its own accord.

Yet Zinchenko made sure it did when his attempt to clear merely saw him tumble onto his backside and hook the ball into the opposite corner.

Strictly speaking it couldn’t be classed as an own goal, given the ball was – almost apologetically – heading for the net, but ZInchenko should have done better.

To be fair to Forest, they dusted themselves down and were soon pinging it around again, and one pinball passing move had Dubravka diving to push away a Dilane Bakwa snapshot.

Mind you, Burnley went even closer to a winner with a thunderbolt free kick that would have taken Matz Sels hand into the net if he’d got anywhere near it.

Loum Tchaouna’a whipped-in 20-yard piledriver had the crossbar rattling so much you’d swear the woodwork was still shaking come the final whistle.

But it would have been even worse had it not been for Dubravka, who came up with those two stunning late stops.

And even when Dubravka was out of the equation – when Arnaud Kalimuendo looked sure to score at the far post, Hartman saved the day by blocking his goalbound drive.

At least it ensured Forest didn’t mark the 21st anniversary of Brian Clough’s death with defeat.

Yet ff it hadn’t been for the Burnley keeper, they’d have done so with all three points instead of just the one.

ARSENAL welcome Nottingham Forest to the Emirates for Saturday’s early kick-off.

The Tricky Trees have appointed Ange Postecoglou to replace Nuno Espirito Santo after the Portuguese gaffer was brutally sacked at the start of the week.

The former Tottenham manager will be looking to get off to a winning start away at his side’s former archrivals.

Arsenal are hoping to get back to winning ways after they suffered their first defeat of the season to Liverpool before the international break.

• Kick off time: 12.30pm BST
• TV channel: TNT Sports 1
• Live stream: discovery+
• Arsenal team: To follow…
• Nottingham Forest team: To follow…

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CLUB football is back for the Premier League this weekend after the international break.

After the last round of fixtures, a chaotic transfer deadline day followed as clubs splashed out £375million on new talent to take the overall spending for the window to over £3BILLION.

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And with that wave of new arrivals, including emergency loans, the conclusions of blockbuster sagas and shrewd deals, there will be several new faces for fans to watch.

SunSport has taken a look at stars who could make their debuts this weekend, including two club-record signings.

Kicking off the team in goal is new Manchester City star Gianluigi Donnarumma, who arrived on deadline day from Paris Saint-Germain for £26million.

New £18m Manchester United star Senne Lammens could have been selected just as easily, but they can let their goalkeeping do the talking during the Manchester Derby on Sunday.

Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie – signed on loan from Bayer Leverkusen with a £45m option to buy – put in a great display for Ecuador against Argentina and will partner £13m Bournemouth signing Veljko Milosavljevic and West Ham loanee Igor Julio in defence.

There are three more loanees to consider going forward: Tottenham’s Randal Kolo Muani, Nottingham Forest‘s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Aston Villa‘s Jadon Sancho, who all arrived in the twilight hours of the summer window.

Harvey Elliott followed Sancho to the struggling Villans from Liverpool on an initial loan with a £35m obligation to buy next summer.

The front three is where the majority of the star power and cost come into play.

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Alejandro Garnacho, a £40m sale from Man Utd to Chelsea, was not a deadline day switch but was only announced after the Blues’ most recent game at Stamford Bridge – meaning he will be in line for his debut this weekend.

Newcastle star Nick Woltemade is the club’s record signing at £69m.

The 23-year-old German looked impressive during the Under-21 Euros this summer, while he scored 17 for Stuttgart last season.

But he – alongside fellow new Toon ace Yoane Wissa – will have big boots to fill following Alexander Isak‘s record-breaking £130m departure to Liverpool.

Isak’s saga dragged on all summer and was on and off and then on and off again, before possibly the move of the summer was finally put to bed on deadline day.

Elsewhere, there are the likes of Kevin, Fulham‘s own £35m record-breaking arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk, Jaydee Canvot at Crystal Palace and Brian Brobbey at Sunderland who could also make first appearances for their new clubs at the weekend.

DREAM TEAM managers have until 11am on Saturday morning to confirm their transfers for Gameweek 3.

We’ve assembled some tempting transfer targets separate from the too-obvious-to-list options for your consideration.

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Harvey Barnes (£4m)

Anthony Gordon (£4.5m) would have been a viable option this week had he not seen red against Liverpool on Monday night.

But Dream Team managers can follow the same logic with Newcastle’s No11.

The Magpies are due to face Leeds this Saturday with the Whites having been hammered by Arsenal in Gameweek 2.

Daniel Farke’s side were also humiliated by Sheffield Wednesday’s youngsters in the Carabao Cup.

Newcastle may have had their hearts broken by Arne Slot’s troops last time out but they showed they pack a punch even when a man down to the champions.

Barnes is a true horses-for-courses selection as he boasts a formidable record against Leeds of five goals in six Premier League appearances.

The 27-year-old should be guaranteed playing time while Gordon serves his suspension with Newcastle’s next home game also a favourable match-up in the form of Wolves.

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Chris Wood (£4.3m)

Dream Team bosses could do a lot worse than targeting West Ham’s weaknesses at present.

The Hammers lost 3-0 to Sunderland on the opening weekend and got thrashed 5-1 by Chelsea in Gameweek 2, not to mention a Carabao Cup capitulation at Wolves.

Nottingham Forest will feel confident of a positive result against Graham Potter’s mob this Sunday and their big target man might be first in line to benefit.

Alternatively, four of their midfielders are already into double figures for points: Morgan Gibbs-White (£4.7m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (£3.7m), Dan Ndoye (£3.3m) and Elliot Anderson (£3.7m).

September brings a tricky trip to Arsenal for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men but that’s more than countered by favourable fixtures against Burnley and Sunderland.

Forest will also commence their Europa League campaign after the international break.

Dream Team bosses should ensure they have plenty of players active in Europe once the midweek fixtures start coming thick and fast.

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Pedro Porro (£5.1m)

Both Brennan Johnson (£4.7m) and Richarlison (£3.3m) are among the most popular recruits ahead of Gameweek 3 at this stage.

And that’s perfectly understandable.

But we’re choosing to shine a light on Tottenham’s defence after two clean sheets from as many outings.

Cristian Romero (£3.6m), Micky van de Ven (£3.8m) and Djed Spence (£3.8m) are all more affordable but it feels like Porro is on the brink of a mega haul.

The Spaniard continues to take up advanced positions and, in the absence of James Maddison (£4.5m), he’s on set-pieces.

It’s worth remembering that Porro racked up a whopping 51 bonus points last season.

Spurs host Bournemouth this weekend but it’s their trip to West Ham in Gameweek 4 that looks most inviting.

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Matheus Cunha (£5m)

A pure one-week punt to finish.

Manchester United are at home to Burnley on Saturday and their new No10 will be licking his lips at the prospect.

Only two players have registered more shots than Cunha across the first two league games and the Brazilian forward is the outright leader for shots on target.

It feels as if his first goal in red is just around the corner and what better platform than Old Trafford against a newly-promoted team?

Many gaffers will feel they can’t accommodate a short-term move such as this (a Manchester derby awaits in Gameweek 4) especially with the European competitions looming large but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Cunha bagged a big double-digit haul against the Clarets.

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CRYSTAL Palace welcome Nottingham Forest to Selhurst Park for a huge Premier League clash TODAY.

The match comes after Palace‘s bitter European battle with Forest, which saw the Eagles demoted to the Conference League and the Tricky Trees promoted to the Europa League at their expense.

More drama came off the field this week as Nuno Espirito Santo said his relationship with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is “not the same” – fueling speculation over a potential departure.

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IT’S opening night at football’s multi-billion dollar circus and spending has gone through the big-top roof.

So despite an almighty spree of his own, Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side will face tougher competition than ever if they are to retain their Premier League title.

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England’s biggest five clubs have already shelled out more than £1billion between them this summer, in a whopping total spend of £2.1billion — or £2.5bn including deal add-ons.

And as the defending champions roll up to Anfield to face Bournemouth, kicking off another season for the greatest show on Earth, the Dutchman expects the title battle to be fiercer than ever.

Liverpool’s imminent signing of Giovanni Leoni would take their summer outlay to around £300m  — with deals for Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi still possible.

But world champs Chelsea have spent another quarter of a billion, followed by Manchester United (£200.5m), Arsenal (£181.8m) and Manchester City (£150.1m for a total of £324m in the calendar year).

And Slot said: “The reason why it’s so difficult lies mainly with the fact there are so many that can win the league over here.

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“To win it once is very special, if you can win it twice in five years like us — and City did even better — then that is unbelievable.

“And probably this year’s going to be harder than any year before because every team brings in new players. Our main competitors definitely did as well.

“The challenge in the Premier League is always the teams. We start with Bournemouth — the most intense in the league in terms of running and also playing style — and after that it’s Newcastle and Arsenal.

“That sums up this league and the challenges we have.”

If winning the title is a serious achievement, retaining it is far tougher — only Pep Guardiola’s City, Sir Alex Ferguson’s United and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have won back-to-back Premier League crowns.

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Slot would be walking among giants if he wins a second title in two  seasons.

And while the signings of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez provide a major platform, he still wants Newcastle striker Isak as well as Guehi, the England defender who skippered Crystal Palace to beat the Reds in Sunday’s Community Shield.

Perennial runners-up Arsenal are in  a major recruitment drive too — adding Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Kepa  Arrizabalaga and Cristhian Mosquera ahead of a critical campaign for Mikel Arteta.

As ever, Chelsea have bought in bulk — with strikers Joao Pedro and Liam Delap joining wingers Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, left-back Jorrel Hato and midfielder Dario Essugo at a club powered by its own brand of chaos.

Guardiola’s City — four-in-a-row champions before  last term — have made four big signings in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford, to add to their January quartet.

With United’s attacking overhaul bringing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in, never before have all of England’s major clubs seen such change.

Europa League winners Spurs have spent  £100m-plus, with more to come — with even promoted Sunderland well over nine figures.

The league is increasingly competitive. The Liverpool-City duopoly — when two near-perfect teams needed close to 100 points to take the crown — is over.

No longer does one defeat spell disaster, yet fewer fixtures are a formality for any title-chasers.

With Liverpool making so many changes, Slot faces a different pressure to when he inherited Jurgen Klopp’s squad last summer.

He said: “I took over a team with only two weeks to prepare due to the Euros and Copa America.

“This year we’ve brought in very good, intelligent players who need to integrate. Bournemouth will bring a big challenge but everyone is looking forward to it.”

Roll up, roll up — tonight’s the night we begin to find out if they all have more money than sense.

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