Tottenham v Forest: Preview, Kick-off, TV, Team News

Tottenham and Nottingham Forest meet at White Hart Lane in the Capital One Cup 4th Round tie this evening. Both teams will want to progress but have different objectives both in the short-term and for the season.

Wednesday, 24th September, 2014
Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest (Capital One Cup 4th Round)
Kick-off: 7.45pm (UK time)
Television: Sky Sports 1 HD

Updated Tottenham Team News:

Team: Vorm, Naughton, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Bentaleb, Stambouli; Lennon, Paulinho, Townsend; Soldado

Subs: Friedel, Chiriches, Dier, Mason, Lamela, Eriksen, Kane

Tottenham and Nottingham Forest are both 4 times winners of the League Cup – Spurs last winning it in 2008 while Forest’s last win was in 199o.

Nottingham Forest

Stuart Pearce’s team come into this League Cup tie on the back of an unbeaten start to the season. They are top of the Championship after 8 games with a one point advantage over Norwich City.

On Saturday they were held to a scoreless draw at Millwall but had numerous opportunities to score the goal which would have given them the three points. Striker Britt Assombalonga missed several chances to secure the win.

Assombalonga is their leading scorer with 8 goals, including a hat-trick last Wednesday in an 8-goal thriller against Fulham at the City Ground. The 5 – 3 win for Forest brought about the demise of the Fulham boss, Felix Magath.

Forest have already won two away ties to reach this stage, winning 1 – 0 at Tranmere and 2 – 0 at Huddersfield Town in August.

Forest’s objective for the season is to maintain their excellent start and win promotion from the Championship and return to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.

They’ve Met Before

Related Article:

Spurs Record against Forest in the League Cup: Read more

The last league game at White Hart Lane between the clubs was in November, 1998 when Spurs won 2 – 0 with goals from Chris Armstrong and Allan Nielsen. In the return match in Nottingham Spurs completed the ‘double’ over Forest with a goal from Steffen Iversen.

Spurs and Forest met in the FA Cup in 2005 at White Hart Lane. Jermain Defoe scored in a 1 – 1 draw. In the replay Spurs won 3 – 0 with the goals coming from Noe Pamarot, Robbie Keane and Mido.

Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino will be looking for a response from his players after the disappointing performance and result against West Brom although he is likely to make numerous changes to his team.

Spurs have made an early exit from the League Cup in recent seasons and will want to avoid it happening against this year. They have lost their last two home games and after opening the season with 4 wins, now have 4 games without a win on their record.

Pochettino has a difficult decision to make. Should he rest players ahead of the north London derby or try to bring some consistency and understanding into his team by using players who are likely to appear at the Emirates on Saturday.

Spurs immediate priority is to return to winning ways and produce the style of football that was promised when Pochettino took over. If achieved consistently, this would lead them to their season’s ambition of a high finish in the league.

Team News

It’s hard to know what Pochettino will decide over his team selection. He wants to avoid an upset but will be so conscious of the importance of the next game. The Capital One Cup is a trophy which Tottenham could have a chance to win this season with a number of top teams having already exited the competition but Forest will prove difficult opponents.

Andros Townsend is available having recovered from his leg injury. Will Michel Vorm make his debut in goal? Roberto Soldado is expected to start as striker but the remainder of the team could contain a mix of first choice players and squad players as the manager takes account of the test that Forest will provide. I would have no objection to him using the game to give ‘first-choice’ players an opportunity to play together to develop the understanding that has been clearly missing in recent displays.

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Forest are expected to be without their captain, Chris Cohen, Jack Hobbs, Jack Hunt, striker Matty Fryatt and former Tottenham player Andy Reid who joined Spurs from Forest at the same time as Michael Dawson, almost ten years ago.

Two players who Tottenham were linked with during the summer could be in the Forest side – goalkeeper Karl Darlow and England Under-21 central defender Jamaal Lascelles. Both signed for Newcastle United and were loaned back to Forest for the season.

Tottenham can expect a tough evening, Forest will be high on confidence with a squad of young, experienced players who will be well motivated by their manager, Stuart Pearce. It is said that a team is often the image of their manager as a player, so we know what to expect from Forest. Spurs will need to improve dramatically from Sunday afternoon’s performance and will really want the match settled in 90 minutes to avoid the tiring extra thirty minutes and even penalties.

Spurs will be expected to win but with the way they are currently playing, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an upset.