Nottingham Forest will need to return to form on Monday evening against Tottenham and have just received a boost ahead of the fixture.
Back-to-back Premier League defeats to Aston Villa and Everton have seen Nuno Espirito Santo’s side drop to fourth in the table after having a vice-like grip on third for so long.
Chris Wood struggled against Everton in his first game back from the injury he suffered playing for New Zealand, but he wasn’t the only one not at his best, as even Murillo made an error against Everton.
The Forest manager will be desperate for a response on Monday to ease the pressure on the Champions League race, with the news coming from the Tottenham camp providing the perfect boost.
Heung-min Son set to miss Nottingham Forest clash
Spurs themselves will be feeling positive after reaching the Europa League semi-final on Thursday, but Ange Postecoglou has had little time to celebrate the achievement due to difficult injury news regarding Heung-Min Son and James Maddison.
Postecoglou said: “Sonny will still be out. He’s been dealing with this foot problem for a while, so it’s probably as good a time as any to give him the right time to get over it so he’ll definitely miss Monday night as well.”
On Maddison, the Spurs boss added: “He’ll [Maddison] probably be a bit sore, so he’s probably a doubt for Monday.”
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Injuries have become a problem for Nuno Espirito Santo more recently as Ola Aina has been injured, but on this occasion, Forest can exploit their opponent’s fitness issues. However, very little should change for the Reds as they already laid out a perfect blueprint to beat Spurs in December.
Nottingham Forest can replicate December’s Tottenham win
There was a suggestion that Postecoglou could’ve been sacked if Spurs didn’t win on Thursday, but after surviving that scare, the Australian will know that Forest will pose a threat that he couldn’t handle back in December.
Forest beat Spurs 1-0 in a typically solid Espirito Santo performance on Boxing Day, with the stats showing that Postecoglou’s side played right into the Reds’ hands.
Giving up the ball, Forest had a higher xG through their counterattacking prowess, completing 19 long balls to quickly break on Spurs, whilst also winning more duels to protect Anthony Elanga’s opening goal.