Premier League: Forest Out to Cause More Misery for Injury-Hit Spurs

Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur

Few if any pundits, let alone this SBOTOP writer, could have predicted that Nottingham Forest would be ahead of Spurs in the Premier League standings at Christmas.

Yet after four months of Premier League 2024 highlights, including a superb win at leaders Liverpool and a first triumph in 30 years at Old Trafford, the boys from the City Ground are actually seven places and eight points above the North Londoners.

My colleague has already asked how long can they sustain their hot run.

Well, current form, suggests quite a while!

 

Talking Points

For as a former colleague of mine, John Brewin, remarked in the Guardian this week: A kink of the profitability and sustainability rules that Nottingham Forest fans take in vain may have aided the team’s rise to a Champions League position.

This is the club which was docked four points for financial issues last season but is now benefitting from the liberalised market for talent that the rules have produced.

Bigger clubs and direct rivals have been offloading talent, often seeking pure profit to level off expenditure and Nuno Espírito Santo’s squad is full of players who embody this drip-down effect.

In their 2-0 success at Brentford on Saturday, Ola Aina, once of Chelsea, and Anthony Elanga, cashed out by Manchester United, scored the goals. A midfield pairing of Elliot Anderson, reluctantly let go by Newcastle, and Morgan Gibbs-White, who exited Wolves for similar financial reasons, weathered Brentford’s early storm. Callum Hudson-Odoi, another Chelsea graduate who arrived cheaply, played well in the forward line.

And then there’s veteran striker Chris Wood, the joint fourth top scorer in the top flight so far this term.

Forest, not long ago derided for scattergun transfer dealing, are now capable of competing in the higher reaches.

By contrast, Spurs are struggling at the moment and, while they have a squad capable of building on last season’s fifth-placed finish, it is hard to see them doing so.

In their defence, they are missing a lot of key players, including most of their first choice rearguard. That was evident as they shipped six at home to Liverpool on Sunday and even woefully out of form Manchester United put three past them in the League Cup last week.

With boss Ange Postecoglou seemingly unwilling to compromise on his playing style, Forest could take advantage.

Yet given the attacking talent at his disposal, including captain Son Heung-Min and Dominic Solanke, we could potentially be in for another goal fest.

 

History

Until just over two years ago, these two sides had not met in the Premier League since April 1999 when Steffen Iversen scored the only goal of the game against soon to be relegated Forest.

Their very first clash in the Premier League era came in April 1993, also at the City Ground, when Kingsley Black and Robert Rosario scored in a 2-1 victory for the hosts.

Overall, Forest have 37 successes to Spurs’ 59 wins and an additional 29 draws.

Spurs have won all four of their league meetings since Forest were promoted two years ago.

Last season, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusekvski scored the goals in a 2-0 win at the City Ground.

Spurs also won the return match in North London in April when defenders Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro produced two fine finishes within six minutes of each other to secure a 3-1 success.

Forest have enjoyed one success against Spurs in recent years – a 2-0 third round League Cup victory two seasons ago when Renan Lodi and Jesse Lingard were on target.

The last time Forest beat Spurs in the top flight was March 1997 when Dean Saunders scored the only goal of the game at White Hart Lane.

 

Betting Tip

This must be the first time in decades that Forest have met Spurs as favourites.

In fact, it probably goes back to the 1990s, but there you have it and it reflects well on both their progression under Espirito Santo and the current injury woes facing the North Londoners.

Our Premier League 2024 betting has Forest priced 1X2 @ 2.36 compared to Spurs 1X2 @ 2.56, while Asian Handicap bets include Forest -0.50 @ 2.36 and Spurs 0.00 @ 2.13.

A repeat of their meeting from last season will pay out @ 18.00 with Correct Score 0-2.

I have considered goals aplenty, including total goal 2-3 @ 2.19 and 4-6 @ 2.49.

By contrast, although total goal 0-1 is a very appealing @ 4.82, I am not expecting a first goalless draw between the sides since even before the late, great Brian Clough ruled the city of Nottingham – that happened in March 1968 – but I am opting for a 1X2 Draw @ 3.47 as my *** tip.

   

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.