Overview
After a 0-3 defeat to Man City, Nottingham Forest have enjoyed a three-match winning streak in the Premier League, including impressive victories over Man United and Aston Villa.
Nottingham is an interesting phenomenon in the Premier League this year, ranking 4th after 17 rounds. A solid defense is the fulcrum for them to fly high when they have only conceded 19 goals, a number only higher than Liverpool and Arsenal.
Nottingham will certainly want to finish the first half of the season in the top four, which would give them a chance of qualifying for next season's European competition. However, the Boxing Day clash with Tottenham will not be an easy one for Nuno Santo's side.
Remember, Tottenham is the team with the strongest attack in the tournament with 39 goals. Spurs' problem lies in the defense when they have conceded 25 goals in just 17 matches.
This weakness became even more alarming when they lost their best central defenders like Romero or Van De Ven due to long-term injuries. The disastrous 3-6 defeat to Liverpool in round 17 exposed the weakness of the "Rooster" defense.
Tottenham are currently 11th in the table with just 23 points from 17 games. The pressure is on manager Ange Postecoglou, but with Romero and Van De Ven still out, Tottenham's attack will struggle to make up for their defensive shortcomings.
Despite being in better form, Nottingham's head-to-head record is worse than Tottenham's. Spurs have won six of the last seven meetings between the two sides. Nottingham's last league win over Tottenham was in 1997.
Human resources situation
The injury crisis continues to limit Ange Postecoglou's options, with three of Tottenham's five regular defenders missing against Nottingham. Good news for Spurs as Rodrigo Bentancur returns from suspension.
On the other side of the front line, Nottingham is without Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare due to injury, while Nicolas Dominguez is suspended.
Expected lineup:
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Aina, Gibbs-White, Anderson, Williams, Hundson-Odoi, Elanga, Wood.
Tottenham: Forster, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski, Solanke, Son Heung-min.
The match between Nottingham and Tottenham takes place at 22:00 on December 26 (Vietnam time).
