Overview
The new season has not been able to bring prosperity to Tottenham, even things have become worse.
Tottenham for the first time in Premier League history lost both opening matches without scoring a goal. Teams with poor performances in the two 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons have also never fallen into a situation similar to Roberto De Zerbi's team.
After a disappointing performance against Brentford in the first round, Tottenham had some more positive signs in the confrontation with Newcastle. However, when the opponent took the lead, Spurs could hardly find a way to react. Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa scored in turn, helping Newcastle win all 3 points.
2 matches, two defeats and 5 goals conceded caused Tottenham to drop to the bottom of the Premier League table early. Huge investments in the summer transfer window have not yet brought about commensurate results.
The opening goal conceded continues to be a big problem for Tottenham. Since the beginning of the 2025-2026 season, they have let the opponent score first in 22 Premier League matches and have not won any match, including 16 defeats.
Tottenham has never started a Premier League season with 3 consecutive defeats. The last time they experienced this scenario was in the 1979-1980 season. Therefore, the away match against Nottingham Forest could become an undesirable milestone in the club's history.
On the opposite side, Nottingham Forest also entered the match with many problems. The City Ground team once faced the risk of losing all 3 of the first matches of the season in all competitions after twice losing to Leeds United in the Premier League and Carabao Cup.
However, Forest created many difficulties for Liverpool at Anfield. Oliver Glasner's team twice took the lead thanks to goals from Dan Ndoye and Morgan Gibbs-White, but were eventually equalized by Alexander Isak and Victor Munoz.
Glasner has therefore not yet had his first victory as head coach of Nottingham Forest. This team also has many reasons to worry when returning to City Ground.
Forest lost both home games at the beginning of the season without scoring a goal. More broadly, they have only won 1 of their last 12 matches at City Ground in the Premier League. The only victory in this streak came against Burnley, a relegated team, in April.
Personnel situation
Besides a series of deals completed on the last day of the transfer window, Tottenham has helped Roberto De Zerbi reunite with his former student Mykhaylo Mudryk. The Ukrainian player joined Spurs on loan from Chelsea, while Tottenham also completed the recruitment of Tosin Adarabioyo.
Tottenham may also welcome Savio back after a muscle injury, while James Maddison is facing the possibility of reappearing after a shoulder problem. However, Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons are both absent due to knee injuries, and Dejan Kulusevski has not reached his best fitness.
On the other side, Nottingham Forest did not have much change on the last day of the transfer window. Previously, Glasner brought Daniel Munoz, his former student at Crystal Palace, to the team at the end of August. The Colombian defender may be immediately positioned on the right wing even though he just underwent a nose surgery.
Expected lineup:
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Milenkovic, Cunha, Murillo, Munoz, Schlager, McAtee, Williams, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Jesus.
Kinsky, Gray, Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Robertson, Tonali, Bentancur, Porro, Fernandes, Tel, Marmoush.
The match between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham takes place at 9:00 PM on September 5th (Vietnam time).
