""Is Pep weighing himself, do you think?" joked Dyche, when asked if he would be taking a similar approach to the City manager. "As I always say to the players, on your passport it says professional footballer. They're not just footballers. Everyone wants to be a footballer, but what about the professional side of it? The players just need to use a bit of common sense. I don't mind them having a Christmas dinner, why not?""
"Forest enter the clash on the back of a 1-0 defeat away to Fulham, but five points clear of the bottom three, having enjoyed an upturn in form early on in Dyche's reign. However, consistency has been hard to come by in the league of late. They have alternated between winning and losing across their last six Premier League matches."
"City might believe they have earned a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings given their recent form, with five straight wins putting them just two points adrift of leaders Arsenal. After progressing to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, the Citizens followed up that result with a 3-0 thrashing of lowly West Ham, with Erling Haaland scoring twice. Tijjani Reijnders also found the back of the net at Etihad Stadium, taking his tally to three league goals in 16 appearances and his second in his last four top-flight games."
Nottingham Forest players were urged to use common sense over the festive period, permitted to have Christmas dinner while expected to maintain professional standards ahead of Manchester City. Forest sit five points clear of the relegation zone after a 1-0 loss to Fulham, having shown an early upturn in form but inconsistent recent results that alternate between wins and losses across six matches. Manchester City arrive on a five-game winning run and sit two points behind Arsenal, boosted by a 3-0 win over West Ham and progression to the EFL Cup semi-finals.
Read at Soccer News
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