Tottenham v Nottingham Forest

Tottenham kept their season alive with a 1-0 win over Frankfurt to see them progress to the semi finals of the Europa League. The league campaign isn’t worth much to Ange Postecoglu with Tottenham on track for one of their worst league finishes of the Premier League era. 

Nottingham Forest have been excellent all season but now face a battle to qualify for the Champions League. Newcastle’s recent explosion in form has refocused the battle between Forest, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side boast a two point lead over Manchester City and have a three point cushion to Chelsea but face a challenging end to the season which includes facing fellow European hopefuls Chelsea on the final day of the season.

⭐ Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Best Bet

The battle between Murillo and Solanke really stands out here. The pair clashed on multiple occasions in the initial meeting between the sides at the City Ground, in which Nottingham Forest ran out 1-0 winners. Murillo committed two fouls in that game and was shown a yellow card, while his direct opponent in Solanke, was hauled down on two occasions. 

Murillo has caught the eye since joining Forest, mainly for his excellent reading of the game but also for being aggressive in his duels and adventurous in carrying the ball out from the back. He’s formed a formidable partnership with Nikola Milenkovic, which has been the basis for Forest’s success this season. Forest boasts an excellent defensive record in the Premier League this campaign, only Arsenal and Liverpool having conceded fewer goals than Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. 

Murillo has committed 23 fouls across his 31 Premier League appearances this season (0.75 per 90), which is a pretty solid record for a centre back that often finds himself sitting deepest in a low block. Solanke should force a rise in this average, the striker is very active in the final third in constantly looking to press for Spurs, sometimes being too eager in this assignment with no structure or support for the number nine in the Tottenham attempt to win the ball back. Solanke is averaging 1.55 fouls won per 90 in the Premier League this season. 

👕 Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Predicted XI

🔍 Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Players to Watch

🔴 Anthony Elanga

Elanga scored the winner in the meeting between these sides at the City Ground. He had two shots on target in that game as Tottenham were reduced to 10 men. Elanga has enjoyed an excellent individual season, registering 14 goal contributions across his 32 appearances in the Premier League - only Chris Wood has recorded more goal contributions for Nottingham Forest this season.

He’s averaging 0.72 shots on target per 90 across the season as a whole and can hurt Tottenham here with his speed on the break as he did in the meeting between the sides at the City Ground.

🔴 Matz Sels

Matz Sels has been a massive part of Nottingham Forest’s excellent defensive record this season. The Belgian was forced into making four saves in the meeting between the sides at the City Ground in a man-of-the-match performance despite Tottenham being reduced to 10 men. Sels has been forced into making 104 saves across his 32 Premier League appearances this season (3.25 per 90) - only six keepers in the Premier League are being called to action more often than Sels this season.

Tottenham are averaging 5.3 shots on target per game in the Premier League this season, only four sides are finding the target more often than Ange Postecoglu’s men, the attacking side of their game has been pretty steady despite their lowly league position which is mainly dictated by the chances they’ve given up at the back.

📂 Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Cheat Sheet

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💻 Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Form and Tactics

Tottenham look a lot more secure at the back now that they have their first-choice backline fit and available. Udogie, Romero, Van de Ven, and Porro can work in a solid unit, which is more in tune with how Ange Postecoglu likes his team to play. The issue Spurs were having when some of these players were missing was that they were still trying to play in the same expansive manner, something which was exposed time and time again by opposition sides. However, the return to fitness for these players will improve Tottenham at the back as they showed in their 1-0 win over Frankfurt last week in what was a professional away performance - the likes of which we haven’t seen from Tottenham in a long time. 

Expect more confidence in the Tottenham team following that positive result in Europe. It was all turning a bit sour between Ange Postecoglu and the Tottenham faithful, but the return of key players allows the Tottenham boss to prove the doubters wrong and show that his unique system can be effective at this level. They’ll line up in a 4-3-3 shape, but the real change will come in the fullback areas. Udogie and Porro are perfectly suited to pushing on into the inside channels, which is where Ange wants his fullbacks to operate when Tottenham have the ball. 

Nottingham Forest have perfected the counter-attack this season, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side bucking the trend of possession-based football to catch teams off guard with an excellent transitional ability. However, this ability is only possible due to the secure nature of the Forest backline, a defence which has only conceded 38 goals across their 32 games in the Premier League this season. 

There are signs that sides are learning how to counteract this Forest approach, as evidenced by results in the second half of the season. There is also the element of pressure weighing heavily on these Forest players with the expectations now high amongst the Forest fanbase. There was a lot of tension in the City Ground during their 1-0 defeat to Everton last time out, which is a factor that could end up derailing their push for Champions League football.

🏁 Tottenham v Nottingham Forest Ref

• Referee: Peter Bankes

• Stats are on a per 90 basis and are taken from 2024/25 games (23 total)

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