Tottenham Hotspur will visit the City Ground on Sunday to face Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest.
Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action after a job well done in the Champions League during midweek. This weekend, the North Londoners will head to the City Ground to face Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest.
Thomas Frank deployed a hybrid fullback system with Djed Spence alongside a double pivot of Palhinha and Archie Gray in that 3-0 win against Slavia Prague. And you’d expect the Dane head coach to show some of that tactical versatility after a run of underwhelming results at Hotspur Way.
City Ground is historically a difficult away ground to play, given the hostile atmosphere with how fans are really close to the run of play. And then Nottingham have been quietly improving under the former Everton boss, which leaves zero margin for Tottenham for another wobble.
While Forest are looking to drag themselves out of trouble after that difficult start to the season they had, the Lilywhites are trying to prove that win against Brentford, and that solid showing in Europe wasn’t a blip. So both the clubs badly need this one.
In recent meetings, Forest have enjoyed taking Tottenham out. If we look at the last five times that both these clubs rubbed shoulders in all competitions:
Tottenham 1 v 2 Forest [April 2025]
Forest 1 v 0 Tottenham [December 2024]
Tottenham 3 v 1 Forest [April 2024]
Forest 0 v 2 Spurs [December 2023]
Spurs 3 v 1 Forest [March 2023]
Team News
Nottingham Forest
Two of the big-name strikers, Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi, have been serving on the sidelines for a while with knee and abdomen problems. And they will continue to do so this weekend.
Ola Aina is another long-term absentee for this weekend’s hosts.
Though for Sean Dyche there is a chance that he welcomes back Oleksandr Zinchenko and Douglas Luiz.
Tottenham Hotspur
Ben Davies returned from a long layoff in that 3-0 win in the midweek. He should be on the bench this weekend.
But beyond him, Tottenham do not have anyone having a real chance to return, with James Maddison being back on the grass, but it will take a while before he is ready. Dominic Solanke is maybe a few weeks away, and he had even posted a cryptic message on his Instagram account, hinting that he might return soon.
Injury update from Thomas Frank’s presser
The key update Frank provided at the presser ahead of the Nottingham Forest game was that of Dominic Solanke. Having seen Solanke’s post on Instagram, he added on to the same, stating (via Football.London):
“I guess it is good news when he posts that [on social media]. As I said with Dom because it is an injury that he picked up in July, it’s dragged on for a while. When he is training fully, I’ll have news,” Frank was quoted by Football London.
He then addressed Brennan Johnson who wasn’t available for the Slavia game. Frank added:
“Minor thing. I expect him to be available for Forest. He trained today.”
Tactical Pre-Game
Sean Dyche has slowly taken this Nottingham Forest from chaos to a structural way of playing, one that is very difficult to face. And he would again likely be deploying his infamous compact block while his players are alternating between being direct (in terms of offensive sequences) and aggressive (when going into duels).
And Dyche will be smelling an opportunity, given the recent inconsistency at Hotspur Way. We know how this Tottenham side don’t like being physically bullied or pressed into bad decisions, and this Forest side can do both.
Frank will try to add some width going forward before that inward pass or carry in a bid to open up Forest. Players like Simons in half spaces will be crucial if Tottenham are to get anything out of the game.
While at the back, Tottenham will need to keep Micky van de Ven on his toes, given that he will be facing Igor Jesus, who likes to run into channels. The Dutchman’s pace will be crucial for the North Londoners to negate that threat.
Predicted Lineups
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1)
Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Anderson, Yates; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Igor Jesus
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1)
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Simons, Richarlison, Kudus; Kolo Muani
Prediction
Nottingham Forest are quite a dangerous side when you are facing them at City Ground. And with Dyche, they have a sense of structure in place.
But Tottenham are also coming off some inspiring performances of late.
If Tottenham can survive the early intensity and avoid another cheap goal, then they can just edge it. But if it becomes a scrappy game, this one would be headed towards shared points, and hence we are going with a draw.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur
