Nuno Espirito Santo aims for major prize as Pep Guardiola and Ipswich fans' nightmare continues

Nuno Espirito Santo will compete with Arne Slot to win the Premier League Coach of the Year award.

That's the view of former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy, who has waxed lyrical about the 50 years with Nottingham Forest to spend Christmas in the top four.

Refusing to leave, he redwho narrowly avoided relegation last season, are fourth in the standings following Saturday's 2-0 win over Brentford.

The City Ground side now sit five points behind leaders Liverpool, having won nine of their 17 top-flight games.

For Newcastlethat's now three wins in a week as they claimed a 4-0 victory over struggling Ipswich, with Alexander Isak bagging a hat-trick.

The striker's hat-trick made him the first Swedish star since Arsenal icon Freddie Ljungberg in 2003 to score a top-flight hat-trick.

But Portsmouth striker Callum Lang was even better in Pompey's 4-1 victory over Frank Lampard's Coventry.

The 26-year-old scored all four of his side's goals at Fratton Park to send John Mousinho's side to 20th in the Championship.

And it turned out to be another bout of terror for pep guardiola and his Manchester City team.

The citizens lost 2-1 at Aston Villa to drop to sixth place after losing nine of their last 12 in all competitions.

Like City, Ipswich have become accustomed to defeats of late as they remain in the bottom three, while a certain fan's shocking claim shocked talkSPORT co-hosts Cundy and Jamie O'Hara.

Here, talkSPORT duo Jamie O'Hara and Jason Cundy reveal their winners and losers from Saturday's Game-Day Phone-In action.

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Winners

Callum Lang

Portsmouth have struggled all season in England's second division, but they have Lang to thank for not being in the bottom three.

The 26-year-old, who has nine goals this season, has scored five goals in his last three games, helping his team to six points from nine.

And his masterclass on Saturday left Cundy and former Tottenham midfielder O'Hara almost speechless.

Cundy said: “Callum Lang scores four goals for Pompey, they were down 1-0, he scores all four, they win 4-1.

“It's not often that we get our feet in the championship, but four goals!”

Meanwhile, O'Hara simply stated: “Fair play.”

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Alejandro Isak

The 25-year-old continues to show why he is considered one of the best strikers in Europe in his current form.

Isak, linked with moves to Arsenal and Chelsea in 2025, has ten Premier League goals in 15 games this season.

He has found the back of the net in each of his last four top-flight games, with his performance against Ipswich being one of the highlights of the campaign so far.

Cundy said of his performance: “Isak got a hat-trick, he got his first goal in 25 seconds. It was a punishment for Ipswich.”

O'Hara intervened and joked: “Were you playing center?”

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Nuno Holy Spirit

From being sacked at Tottenham in 2021 after just 17 games to steering Forest away from relegation and into an unlikely title race, Nuno Espirito Santo takes a bow.

His rampaging Reds team inflicted a first home defeat on Brentford this season and now sit just two points behind third-placed Arsenal.

And Cundy believes that if Forest can continue their form until 2025, then Santo could be named Manager of the Season.

O'Hara said of Santo: “He's doing an incredible job, Nuno.”

Cundy, for his part, commented: “Nuno Espirito Santo, you talk about coach of the year.

“You'll be talking about (Enzo) Maresca, Nuno and (Arne) Slot right now, they're all in the conversation.

“Very well done.”

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Losers

pep guardiola

Things are simply not going well for City at the moment, who look a long way from the team that has won four league titles in a row.

They are now three defeats in a row after defeats against Manchester United and Juventus, while City have won just one of their last eight league games.

And City's form is music to the ears of Cundy and O'Hara, who have seen the Etihad team destroy their beloved teams Chelsea and Spurs in recent years.

Cundy said: “Pep Guardiola has a season ticket at the moment, he's there every week, he's on the losers' (list).”

“Pep, every week he is among the losers, every week!”

O'Hara then joked: “Nine defeats out of 12, it's worse than my record at Billericay!”

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ipswich fans

It has been a difficult season so far for Ipswich, who are playing their first Premier League season in 22 years.

While they have impressed many with their style of play, they have only won two games and scored just 16 goals, the third lowest figure in the division.

And to the surprise of Cundy and O'Hara, Portman Road became increasingly empty as Newcastle cruised to victory in Suffolk.

Cundy said: “Ipswich Town fans are a good group there but they were disappointing. There were a lot of empty seats.”

O'Hara then added: “Have you been waiting over 20 years, then you get hyped up and you leave? Come on guys.”

Cundy then stated: “We know how ruthless the Premier League is and they are finding out.”

O'Hara had the last word, saying, “You couldn't get a ticket at the beginning of the season! It's not good enough.”

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talkSPORT talker Gareth (Derby County fan)

If there's one thing you don't do as a football fan, it's cheer on your archrivals.

But that's not the case for Derby fan Gareth, who called talkSPORT to say he hopes Forest finish the season as champions.

It's safe to say his opinion made Cundy and O'Hara shake their heads in disbelief, earning him a place on talkSPORT's losers list.

Cundy, from the fan: “And finally, it's Gareth, the caller, the Derby County/Nottingham Forest fan.

“If you want Forest to win the Premier League (phone-in), you have nothing better to do on a Saturday than phone-in (and praise Forest).”

O'Hara then joked: “What a shame. And he was with his wife! I think we put Claire in there too, just to be a part of it.”

In the other two Premier League games, West Ham drew 1-1 with Brighton at the London Stadium.

Meanwhile, Arsenal won again against Crystal Palace after drawing with Fulham and Everton.

The Gunners ran riot at Selhurst Park as they cruised to a 5-1 victory, but it came at a price, with Bukayo Saka coming off with a hamstring injury in the first half.

And there are five games on Sunday: Everton host Chelsea, Manchester United at home to Bournemouth, Fulham host Southampton at Craven Cottage and Wolves travel to Leicester.

Liverpool then tested their wits against Tottenham at Anfield, knowing that anything short of a win could see Chelsea leapfrog them in the table.

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