Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Short-serving Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo seeks to prolong Spurs’ festive misery on Boxing Day, when his Nottingham Forest side tackle the Lilywhites at the City Ground.

Eight points and seven places separate the two foes in the Premier League table at present, as the Garibaldi continue to enhance their Champions League credentials while Spurs languish in the lower echelons of the standings.

Match preview

© Imago

Channelling his inner Russell Crowe with his “are you not entertained” quip after Tottenham’s enthralling EFL Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United, Postecoglou witnessed his troops put on another sensational spectacle for the neutrals against Liverpool, but he cut a much less affable figure afterwards.

The league leaders exposed Spurs’ high line at will and never looked in danger of throwing away their healthy advantage despite a late defensive collapse, as Liverpool came out on the correct end of a 6-3 scoreline to condemn Tottenham to their fourth straight Premier League home game without a win.

As mesmerising and memorable as Tottenham can be under Postecoglou – both for the right and wrong reasons – the grim reality is that the Lilywhites will spend Christmas Day in the bottom half of the Premier League table, eight points adrift of the Champions League places.

Postecoglou’s defiant claim that he “always” wins trophies in his second season may still ring true, but Spurs would have to get past Liverpool and then one of Arsenal or Newcastle United for that to happen in the EFL Cup, and their disheartening winter record reads three wins from their last 11 games in all competitions.

However, Spurs’ never-say-die attitude in the visit of Liverpool saw them score at least three goals for the fourth time in their last five games, and Postecoglou’s side are remarkably the joint-best defensive team on the road this season, only shipping eight Premier League goals on rival territory so far.

© Imago

Speaking of backlines excelling on the road, few could have foreseen Nottingham Forest quelling a goal-happy Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium fortress, where the Bees had scored a whopping 26 goals in just eight games prior to Saturday’s game.

However, Thomas Frank‘s troops were stunted by Santo’s Champions League chasers, who struck either side of the half-time whistle through Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga to end Brentford’s unbeaten Premier League home record and register their third win in succession.

Showing few signs of faltering in their unexpected bid for elite European football, the fourth-placed Garibaldi have moved to within two points of Arsenal – whom they will overtake with victory on Boxing Day – while also opening up a four-point advantage over champions-in-crisis Manchester City.

Nine Premier League wins from 17 games is already as many as Forest managed in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Premier League campaigns, and a 10th success of the season on Thursday would mark Forest’s fourth Premier League win in a row; not since 1995 have they achieved that feat.

Santo should also require no added incentive to slay the side that sacked him just 17 games into his tenure in 2021, but Forest are on a six-game losing streak against Tottenham in the Premier League, going down in each of their last three at the City Ground without scoring.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

© Imago

Seven games later, Tottenham midfield fulcrum Rodrigo Bentancur is finally available for domestic fixtures again after his lengthy suspension, and Postecoglou has also confirmed that Destiny Udogie should be fine after he was restricted to a watching brief over the weekend.

However, the visitors still cannot call upon Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Cristian Romero (thigh), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Mikey Moore (illness), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Richarlison (thigh) and Ben Davies (thigh), although the latter might be back for the Wolverhampton Wanderers clash on December 29.

As Bentancur has been kept ticking over in the Europa League during his domestic ban, Postecoglou should have no qualms about throwing him back in for Thursday’s game, where Son Heung-min will aim to build on the four goals and two assists he has registered in previous Boxing Day matches.

While Tottenham will be welcoming a South American midfielder back from a ban, Nottingham Forest have lost one of their own to suspension, as Nicolas Dominguez was cautioned for the fifth time this season in the win over Brentford.

Dominguez was only a second-half substitute at the Gtech Community Stadium anyway, as Santo sprung a surprise by switching to a 3-4-2-1 shape, introducing Morato into the backline as Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White formed an attack-minded midfield pairing.

Ryan Yates will expect to return for a tie of this magnitude, potentially in place of Anderson if Santo keeps faith with Morato in defence, but Danilo (ankle) and Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) remain out.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Morato, Murillo, Milenkovic; Aina, Yates, Gibbs-White, Moreno; Hudson-Odoi, Elanga; Wood

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham may be able to boast the Premier League’s best defensive record away from home alongside Manchester United, but that will count for little against an inspired Forest side if their recent vulnerabilities are exposed once again.

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