Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur

Out-of-sorts Nottingham Forest entertain top-four hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur in contrasting Premier League circumstances at the City Ground.

As the pressure mounts on manager Steven Cooper following Nottingham Forest’s underwhelming run of four defeats across their last five league outings (D1), the impending return to the City Ground looks timely. Stranded only two spots and five points clear of the relegation zone, the ‘Tricky Trees’ can’t afford another slip-up if they’re to strengthen their survival effort, but it’s easier said than done. Since beating basement boys Sheffield United in their opening home outing of 2023/24, they’ve only registered one win in seven home matches, all competitions included (D3, L3). If it’s any consolation, last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton ended Forest’s four-game losing streak in the Premier League, offering a glimmer of hope as they bid to avenge a brace of two-goal league defeats to Tottenham in 2022/23.

On that basis, Tottenham’s upcoming trip to West Bridgford comes at an opportune moment for the London outfit, who were on the precipice of falling outside striking distance of the Premier League top four until last weekend. However, ‘Spurs’ took full advantage of Newcastle United’s severe injury crisis to claim a morale-boosting 4-1 home win and put an emphatic stop to a dismal five-game winless league run beforehand (D1, L4). As their own injury setbacks begin to subside, Ange Postecoglou’s men take this trip knowing a win would draw them level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City, at least temporarily. Postecoglou’s top assignment ahead of this journey is to stem the bleeding at the back after overseeing a seven-game league run without a clean sheet.