Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Prediction: Spurs to inflict more misery on hosts

A 1-1 draw at Wolves last weekend looks to have granted Steve Cooper a stay of execution as Nottingham Forest manager, but the 44-year-old will have to start picking up wins soon. Forest's next test arrives on Friday night (KO, 20:00), as the East Midlands side welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the City Ground.

Spurs were on a dismal five-game winless run but Sunday's 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle United has surely lifted spirits in the camp ahead of a trip to the Premier League strugglers this week.

Ange Postecoglou's side can draw level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City with a win in Nottingham, but they must banish the demons of their last visit to the City Ground, which saw them crash out of the Carabao Cup in November 2022.

Team News

Forest have scored just once in their last three games and their chances of finding the net continues to be hampered by the absence of last season's top scorer Taiwo Awoniyi, who has missed the last four matches with a groin injury.

Cooper has chopped and changed at the top end of the pitch to combat the loss of his main striker, with Chris Wood starting against Everton before being replaced by Divock Origi away to Fulham. Neither forward was in the starting XI for last weekend's draw at Molineux, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga preferred as the most attacking options.

At home on Friday, Wood could start as the lone forward, with Gibbs-White and Elanga providing support either side of the New Zealand international.

Ibrahim Sangare has been roundly derided for his performances in a Forest shirt since his big-money summer move, and the 26-year-old is likely to start on the bench again with Ryan Yates, Orel Mangala and Cheikhou Kouyate in midfield if Cooper reverts to a four-man defence.

If the Welshman sticks with the five that served him well against Wolves, though, he might have to make at least one alteration, with Brazilian centre-back Murillo substituted with a knock last weekend. Willy Boly or Moussa Niakhate could replace him, while goalkeeper Matt Turner will hope to keep his place after displacing Odysseas Vlachodimos at Molineux.

Spurs have one of the lengthiest injury lists in the Premier League and they are still missing the likes of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and Manor Solomon, so they are likely to name an unchanged starting XI from the one that beat the Magpies on Sunday, meaning a return to the City Ground for former Forest favourite Brennan Johnson.

Match Odds

Forest are 7/2 to return to winning ways at home after successive defeats at the City Ground, with a victory for the visitors priced at 7/10. The draw is available at 3/1.

Both teams to score on Friday is 8/13 while BTTS - No, which landed in all three meetings between these sides last season, can be found at 6/5.

Tottenham to win and both teams to score @ 2/1

13 of Spurs' last 16 away games in the Premier League have ended with BTTS as a winning bet, including six of their eight this season. Postecoglou's side have already beaten Crystal Palace, Luton Town, Burnley and Bournemouth on their travels, while they have drawn at Manchester City and Arsenal and lost their only away game at Wolves.

The City Ground was a difficult place to visit last season, with Forest picking up 30 of their 37 points at home. However, they've won only twice there this term, against Aston Villa and bottom-side Sheffield United, and lost their last two versus Brighton and Everton.

Four of their last five matches have ended in defeat, and it looks like Cooper may be nearing the end of his time in charge. Spurs have their tails up after returning to winning ways last week, and there have been over 2.5 goals in ten of their last 12 Premier League away games.

A 1-0 defeat to Everton last time out at the City Ground was the only time this season Forest have failed to score at home, so they should fancy their chances of scoring past Spurs, who haven't kept a clean sheet in their last seven games, but one goal may not be enough to secure a positive result.

Chris Wood to score anytime @ 5/2

This one might be redundant if the New Zealand striker doesn't start, but with Ben Davies likely to begin the game at centre-back for Spurs, Forest might identify him as a potential weakness that can be exploited.

At 5"11, Davies isn't ideally suited to deal with the aerial presence of Wood, who stands at 6"3. The Welshman has experience of playing on the left of a three-man defence for his national team but his deficiencies in the position are more likely to be on show as part of a central pairing.

When he's on song, Wood can bully even the biggest of defenders in the air. The 32-year-old has three goals at the City Ground this season, two of which have come from his head after a cross into the box. That may be one of the most effective methods of troubling Guglielmo Vicario's goal on Friday.

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