An awful lot has happened since Chelsea whacked Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the City Ground in mid-October, when Ange Postecoglou and Enzo Maresca were in charge of the two teams.
This afternoon’s Bank Holiday Monday fixture at Stamford Bridge pits against each other two of the more changeable and volatile clubs in the Premier League.
The volatility at Forest lately has had positive outcomes, no adverse effects. Vitor Pereira’s side are edging towards Premier League safety in style — following 4-1 and 5-0 wins over Sunderland and Burnley — and have half a collective foot in the Europa League final, too.
Their form has picked up but so has their goalscoring edge. They are suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a potent attacking force to be taken seriously and handled with care. Morgan Gibbs-White is in the form of his life, Chris Wood back fit, Igor Jesus back scoring.
Wind back to that game in October and score was just about the only thing they didn’t do. At one end of the pitch they conceded three cheap goals to Maresca’s Chelsea; at the other, they struck the woodwork and kept misfiring, hitting the target with only two of their 12 shots that day.
It appears highly unlikely that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gets as easy a ride between the sticks against Pereira’s Forest as he did when tasked with keeping Postecoglou’s toothless side at bay.
That challenge will appeal to the Spaniard, who will feel full of confidence. Chelsea’s grim form towards the end of Liam Rosenior’s reign is far from forgotten, but the performance against Leeds in the first match under the returning interim head coach Calum McFarlane was noticeably better and the goalkeeper played his part.
Chelsea’s progression to the FA Cup final and first clean-sheet against Premier League opposition since January 17 owes plenty to the sharp reflexes of Sanchez, who saved brilliantly from a one-on-one with Brenden Aaronson early in the game and then tipped acrobatically over the bar from Anton Stach’s piledriver just after the interval.
Sanchez was also given licence to kick longer than he tended to under Rosenior and this was a real outlet for Chelsea, who were able to go direct from Sanchez to Joao Pedro and when the Brazilian invariably held the ball up, they were away.
This was a blueprint for how McFarlane’s team can change it up and build up in a variety of ways in Chelsea’s remaining games of the season.
It was also a reminder that although Chelsea do not possess a top-drawer goalkeeper from that highest category, Sanchez is at the very least one of the division’s more capable shot-stoppers.
“Rob came up with two massive moments,” McFarlane said. “He could be kept busy by Forest at Stamford Bridge as well, but he will embrace it.”
