Chris Sutton believes that Nottingham Forest have the tools to hurt Tottenham Hotspur on the counterattack and has given an interesting prediction about Monday evening’s fixture.
The Tottenham players will still be riding high from their win over Eintracht Frankfurt away from home, a result which was enough to take them into the Europa League semifinals.
Some Spurs stars have already spoken about going all the way and lifting the trophy in Bilbao, but they will now have to shift focus to what is going to be a tough Premier League assignment on Monday night.
High-flying Nottingham Forest will visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Nuno Espirito Santo looking to do the double over the side who unceremoniously sacked him back in 2021.
Chris Sutton predicts result of Tottenham v Nottingham Forest
Sutton believes that we might see a repeat of the reverse clash at the City Ground earlier this season, with Tottenham dominating possession and the Midlands side posing a threat on the counterattack.
The former Celtic striker suggested that the home side need to be wary of the pace that Forest have, and he predicted that the two sides will share the spoils on Monday.
Sutton told BBC Sport: “Tottenham getting past Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League to reach the semi-finals means their stadium will be absolutely buzzing with relief and jubilation.
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“But Nottingham Forest are the counter-attack kings and they have the tools to get another win like the one they got over Spurs at the City Ground in December, where they had 30% of possession and still won 1-0. Forest have hit a bit of a blip of late, though, and they don’t appear to be quite the same force they were a few weeks ago.
“They are desperate for a win to get their top-five bid back on track, and Nuno Espirito Santo would love to get it on his return to Tottenham Hotspur, where he did not last long as manager, but a draw feels more likely to me.”
Score prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Tottenham could be without two senior players for Forest clash
While long-term absentee Radu Dragusin remains sidelined, they have now been joined at the injury table by two experienced heads, Heung-min Son and James Maddison.
While Son has been ruled out of the upcoming fixture, Ange Postecoglou has said that Maddison is unlikely to feature on Monday after being forced off with an injury in the first half at Deutsche Bank Park.
One would not be surprised to see the Australian ring the changes against Forest as he tries to keep his key men wrapped in cotton wool for the semifinals.