The half-time whistle has sounded in north London, signalling the end of the opening forty-five minutes in tonight’s clash between Tottenham and Nottingham Forest – and it’s now time for our first-half player ratings.
Ange Postecoglou has bought himself some extra time in the Spurs dugout with a crucial win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Tottenham Hotspur’s focus now shifts back to the Premier League, where they’re set to face Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest side.
Forest currently sit sixth and are firmly in the hunt for a Champions League spot, while Tottenham, down in 16th, will need to dig deep if they’re to get anything from this one.
Throughout the first half, we analysed each player’s individual performance, rating them on a scale of 1-10. Let’s take a look at our Tottenham player ratings…
Tottenham’s first-half player ratings vs Nottingham Forest
Guglielmo Vicario: Back in the Premier League and Vicario’s picked up where he left off – still struggling to command his box. After his blunder against Wolves, questions remain about his ability to deal with crosses. He was called into action early here and did well to deny Morgan Gibbs-White, but the resulting corner led to a goal after Anderson’s deflected strike. 3.
Pedro Porro: Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham system has the full-back playing high and wide in this one, with Porro occasionally inverting too. However, he’s had little influence on either end of the pitch. A couple of crosses into the box, but not much more. 5.
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Cristian Romero: Romero was nowhere to be seen when Chris Wood rose highest to nod in Forest’s second. Alongside van de Ven, he’s looked suspect when defending crosses, and very average overall. That said, he’s chipped in with a few solid tackles. 4.
Micky Van de Ven: One of the few quick enough to live with Elanga’s pace, and he’s done well to match him stride for stride at times. Still, like Romero, he’s struggled to contain Wood’s aerial threat. 4.
Djed Spence: Spence has shown intent with some surging runs forward. Forest haven’t targeted Tottenham’s left flank much, so he’s not been tested defensively, but he’s worked hard when pushing up. 4.
Rodrigo Bentancur: The opener took a nick off Bentancur, and you could argue he should’ve closed down the shot quicker. A quiet half otherwise. 3.5.
Pape Matar Sarr: Sarr had a quiet half – he’s tried to press and did make one late run into the box to meet Odobert’s cross, but failed to connect with the ball. 4.
Dejan Kulusevski: Operating as the ten with the licence to roam, Kulusevski’s been everywhere trying to spark something. One of Spurs’ more lively figures, though it hasn’t quite come off yet. 5.5.
Wilson Odobert: Odobert looked sharp in the opening forty-five. The wide man forced a fine save from Sels and consistently looked to take on Forest’s defenders when cutting in from the left. He might’ve had an assist to his name if one of the Spurs forwards had gambled on his driven cross. 7.
Richarlison: A first start in a long time for Richarlison, and at least he’s come through the half unscathed. That aside, he’s struggled to get involved, but has had a few half-chances here and there and should have done better with his header, which he put wide. 4.