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Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur: Team News, Preview & More
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- Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur: Team News, Preview & More
Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur: Team News, Preview & More
Nottingham Forest will host Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground in the Premier League on Saturday.
Oliver Glasner will be hoping that his side can build on last weekend's draw at Anfield, where Forest twice led in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool .
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It was an improved performance for Forest which earned their first point of the season, a contrast to Spurs' start to the new season.
Roberto De Zerbi's side have yet to score a Premier League goal, and have slumped to two defeats, a record which currently sees them sat rock bottom in the Premier League.
The north London side need a result, and quickly, but that will be a tall ask at a packed City Ground this weekend.
Team news
Nottingham Forest
Forest have been dealt a huge boost heading into this game, after Glasner delivered confirmation that midfielder Ibrahim Sangare will be back available on Saturday, having missed the Anfield draw due to a minor calf issue.
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His return means that Forest have a fully fit squad, with the exception of Nicolo Savona, who is still returning from a serious knee injury.
The Italian defender has not featured since January, and has been dealing with a setback in his recovery.
"He had a setback and today was his first time back on grass," Glasner confirmed on Thursday. "Now we need to build him up, step by step. Hopefully he can fully train with us during the international break or afterwards, and then he should be back soon [after that]."
Glasner also confirmed that new recruit Daniel Muñoz is available to face Spurs, but urged caution over the Colombian wingback's fitness.
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"He's available," Glasner confirmed. "He arrived back late after the World Cup and had a short pre-season. He played in a mask at Everton because he had surgery on his nose, for his breathing.
"That's why he's not had many minutes in pre-season, and [only played] 55 minutes against Everton. He didn't play against Manchester City because the negotiations were quite far along. That's why I say he needs to get back to his top fitness level."
Predicted Forest XI:Matz Sels; Jair Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo; Ola Aina, James McAtee, Ibrahim Sangare, Neco Williams; Dan Ndoye, Morgan Gibbs-White; Liam Delap
Tottenham Hotspur
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Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert both remain unavailable as they continue recovery from ACL injuries.
James Maddison returned to first-team training on Wednesday, but the trip to the City Ground is expected to come too soon for him.
Dejan Kulusevski has also returned to first-team training for Spurs, but after 477 days sidelined with injury, the Swede is not expected to feature this weekend.
In a boost for the visitors, new signing Savio has been deemed fit to play, after missing last weekend's defeat against Newcastle with a minor knock.
Predicted Spurs XI: Antonin Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Jan Paul van Hecke, Micky van de Van, Andrew Robertson; Rodrigo Bentancur, Sandro Tonali, Matheus Fernandes; Mathys Tel, Omar Marmoush, Savio
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Spurs' predicted line-up was provided by Roundtable's Jason McGovern .
Opposition insight
Opposition insight provided by Roundtable's Jason McGovern .
A summer of change
There have obviously been huge changes from last season, 10 new players have arrived, seven senior players left, and of course, Spurs were still carrying 10 senior players injured coming in to the season, (Simons, Odobert, Maddison, Kulusevski, Udogie, Kudus, Van de Den, Porro, Solanke, Fernandes) who saw little, or in seven cases, no minutes.
This left the team hugely under prepared for the season, which became very evident in the heavy loss at Brentford, where 3-0 flattered them. Whilst 10 have arrived, four of those were all not signed in time for that Brentford game.
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The expectations have increased enormously both inside and outside the club, particularly with the huge unprecedented spend, but it is a large amount of players to gel, and to switch the belief and mentality from a club that's lost 41 of it's previous 92 matches, (winning just 31), and they are coming off the humbling relegation battle of last season (where actually they got more points than the previous season, and lost five fewer games!).
What Forest can expect from Spurs
That is hard to answer when even Spurs fans have no idea what to expect! Whilst Roberto De Zerbi is not a 'new' manager, the fact is last season's requirements of him were simply to save Spurs from the drop, so the reality is, he is only two games into forming the Spurs he wants, and he is yet to field the front three that have come in, and is yet to have several of the injured players back to work with.
Last week, against Newcastle, there were signs of the front-foot football Spurs want to play, particularly in the first half where they should have gone in at half time with a lead, but there were also lots of signs of the mental fragility when, as soon as they conceded, belief they would come back drained from the team, and it became yet another home defeat.
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This is the biggest problem he has to deal with. It is now 32/33 games in which they have gone behind, they have not been able to come back to win, and that suggests if Forest get in front, another difficult day for Spurs follows, much like both of last season's 0-3 capitulations.
A poor record against Glasner sides and lack of fire-power
For Spurs to start stringing wins together, they do need the front line to thrive; the lack of threat and goals in the front line last season (down to club negligence, and injuries) is alarming, and they have actually now sold their top goalscorer in each of the past four seasons.
Yet none were actually replaced (Kane, Son, Johnson, and now it seems Richarlison). Solanke came a full year after Kane, Johnson was sold last January with no new signing made that season.
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With goals, confidence comes, and the hopes for gelling of the team can start to take place, but until that happens, that mental weakness remains, and that is very much what Forest can prey on.
Spurs over the past few years also struggled to beat Glasner's 3-4-2-1 system, with the exception of an ugly 1-0 win at Selhurst against a depleted Palace side. They have struggled to create against them, and have been very vulnerable to the transition, and so you can fully expect Glasner to repeat that blueprint on Saturday.
How to watch
Forest's game against Spurs takes place on Saturday, 5 September 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm BST.
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Due to the 3pm blackout rule, the game will not be broadcast like in the United Kingdom.
Roundtable will be bringing you extensive coverage and live updates throughout the game, and you can become a member for FREE, to be the first to see them. Just click 'login' to create a free account.
