Nottingham Forest have had a mixed season so far, with one win, one draw, and one loss. However, after adding 17 new players this season, the Reds will be delighted to begin the season in the top half.
Forest drew 1-1 with Everton in the Premier League last time out and beat Grimsby Town 3-0 in the Carabao Cup this week, so they'll be in good spirits when Tottenham Hotspur visit the City Ground.
Conveniently, Forest were drawn at home against Spurs in the next round of the Carabao Cup, which will take place in November.
Forest have yet to lose a regular league game at the City Ground in 2022, and they will be hoping to keep that streak going. The Reds have been prolific at home recently, scoring in each of their last 12 games, but they have only kept two clean sheets in their last nine league games.
Spurs, on the other hand, have kept four clean sheets in their last six league games.
Antonio Conte's team are now unbeaten in nine, thanks largely to their defensive record as well as their goal scoring, with 16 goals in their last six league games.
Only Liverpool (53) and Manchester City (50) have earned more Premier League points than Spurs (48) since the start of 2022, and with the top four in their sights again this season, they'll be looking to take all three points away from the City Ground.
Team news
Forest were dealt another injury blow when it was revealed that Moussa Niakhaté will be out for "a few months."
The Frenchman will be a big loss for Steve Cooper's side, as he was starting to look comfortable at this level. Only Aleksander Mitrovic (7) has won more aerial duels per ninety minutes than Niakhaté among Premier League players who have contested six or more aerial duels (6).
“He’s out for a few months, unfortunately. We had to do another scan later in the week, and it didn’t come back too good, so he’s going to be out for a little while now,” Cooper said of Niakhaté.
Steve Cook is expected to continue in his place again, but summer arrivals Cheikhou Kouyaté and Giulian Biancone are also options.
Omar Richards is out indefinitely with a hairline fracture, while Jack Colback is hoping to recover from illness in time for this match.
Morgan Gibbs-White will be hoping to make his full Forest debut following his cameo against Everton, but Cooper has confirmed that the newcomer picked up a knock at Goodison Park and will be assessed ahead of this game.
Orel Mangala was substituted early in the second half last time out, but the Forest boss put his ejection down to fatigue. However, the midfielder was not pictured in training this week.
New signings Emmanuel Dennis and Remo Freuler will be hopeful of earning their first Premier League minutes with their new club after featuring in the 3-0 win over Grimsby.
Antonio Conte is unlikely to risk Cristian Romero and Oliver Skipp after they have been sidelined with injuries, which means Spurs will likely be unchanged from their 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
Conte also explained that Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil could be doubts for this fixture.
“Have to check couple of situations, Lucas and Gil as today didn’t have training session with us. Tomorrow I have to make the right decision for both players.”
Ivan Perisic appeared to be injured last time out, but he has been spotted in training and is expected to start for the second time this season.
Likely line-ups
Henderson; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Williams, Yates, O’Brien, Toffolo; Lingard; Johnson, Awoniyi
Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Royal, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic; Kulusevski, Son; Kane
Key players
Despite facing Spurs three times, the Forest goalkeeper has never lost a game against the North London side.
Henderson is currently on fire, making more saves per game (6) than any other keeper in the Premier League so far.
Only Robert Sánchez (90%) has a higher save percentage (85%) than the Manchester United loanee, but no other goalkeeper has prevented more goals than Dean Henderson (2.7) so far this season.
Following his goal against Wolves last week, Harry Kane has now scored 185 Premier League goals, passing Sergio Agüero (184) as the most prolific goalscorer for a single club in the league’s history.
The 29-year-old has two goals in three games this season and will be looking to win the golden boot again after winning it in 2020/21. A goal or more against Forest will keep him on track and may give him an early lead in the race.
Match details
Where is the game being played?
The game is being played at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground in the East Midlands.
What time is kick-off?
This match is on Sunday, August 28, and kicks off at 16:30pm.
How can I watch?
The fixture will be available to watch on Sky Sports main event and Sky Sports Premier League as part of Super Sunday.