Two two at opposite ends of the table go head-to-head in, what is, just a second-ever 6pm on a Sunday kick off in Premier League history- Man City’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United in December 2019 the other.
Can Tottenham Hotspur enhance their Champions League chances by claiming victory here?
On Tuesday, Ange Postecoglou’s side were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by West Ham, taking the lead after just four minutes through Brennan Johnson, only to conceded from a corner soon after.
The fact no more goals were scored at the London Stadium from the 19th minute onwards was remarkable, as both teams missed plenty of opportunities to snatch all three points.
Nevertheless, after Villa’s hammering at the Etihad the following evening, Tottenham start the weekend just two points adrift fourth place, albeit fifth may be enough to secure Champions League qualification anywho.
Spurs’ final eight matches feature games against Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, a nightmarish sequence of fixtures, so they really cannot afford to drop points here.
Nottingham Forest meantime climbed out of the bottom three in mid-week, courtesy of a 3-1 hammering of Fulham at the City Ground.
They were two up inside 20 minutes, first Callum Hudson-Odoi and then Chris Wood on target, before Morgan Gibbs-White made the points secure by firing home in first half stoppage time.
This is only a second win in 11 for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side since New Year’s Day but, as mentioned, the Garibaldi Reds are now above that all-important dotted line, three points clear of Luton.
Forest’s remaining fixtures are: Wolves (H), Everton (A), Manchester City (H), Sheffield United (A), Chelsea (H) and Burnley (A).
So, assuming ten more points would see them survive, thereby taking their tally to 35, that’s a more than realistic objective.
However, anything they can pick up here would be seen as a real bonus, given that Spurs have won each of the last five league encounters between the pair, including winning 2-0 by the River Trent just before Christmas.
It’s 27 years since Forest’s most-recent win in Tottenham, with Dean Saunders the only scorer at White Hart Lane back in far away March 1997.
Boss Nuno Espírito Santo has won two of his three visits to Tottenham as a manager, all with Wolves, which is funny, because he also won five of seven fixtures when in the home dugout; remember that?
So, can Nuno get one over his former, if only brief, employers, can will Spurs prove to be too strong?
Tottenham Hotspur to win and both teams to score
Since gaining promotion, Nottingham Forest have won only three of 34 Premier League away games, beating Nathan Jones’ Southampton in January 2023, Chelsea back in September and Newcastle on Boxing Day.
In contrast, Tottenham have won 11 of 15 Premier League home games under Ange Postecoglou, including seven of the last eight, so we cannot see beyond a home win.
In terms of both teams to score, despite being impressive, Guglielmo Vicario has just six league clean sheets to his name, with Spurs conceding at least once in 12 of 13 outings since the aforementioned victory at the City Ground in mid-December.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have only failed to score in two of 14 league fixtures during the same time-frame.
Brennan Johnson to score anytime
Brennan Johnson has really found form in recent weeks, scoring four times in his last nine appearances, most-recently on target at West Ham on Tuesday, having also netted for Wales against Finland during the international break.
So, against his boyhood club whom he left as recently as August, we can certainly see Johnson continuing his goal-scoring spree.
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