Forest Far From Easy For Spurs

Tottenham will hope to get back to winning ways in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday but a tricky tie against Championship leaders Nottingham Forest looks far from straightforward.

Form
Following an excellent beginning to their campaign which saw Spurs win their opening four matches Mauricio Pochettino’s side have now picked up no wins in their last four, and suffered home defeats in the Premier League to both Liverpool and West Brom.

Their 1-0 loss to the Baggies on Sunday was a particularly galling one for their Argentine boss, who was highly critical of his team’s performance after James Morrison had scored the only goal of the game for the visitors. Belgian midfielder Nacer Chadli has been given a new lease of life under the former Southampton boss though and has scored three Premier League goals in four appearances, just one fewer than he managed in the whole of last season.

Now unbeaten in ten matches and sitting top of the Championship, Nottingham Forest are proving to be real contenders for automatic promotion to the Premier League under Stuart Pearce

, and will have nothing to fear going into a game against top flight opposition.

Forest have drawn two of their past three, including a scoreless encounter at Millwall on Saturday but remain a point clear of Norwich in second spot while they have scored the most goals of any side in the second tier (17) and kept six clean sheets in their ten outings to date too. Wins over Tranmere and Huddersfield have put them through to this round of the Capital One Cup.

Forest also boast the Championship’s top scorer this season in Britt Assombalonga, who has scored eight league goals already in his debut season for the club.

Team News
Andros Townsend is doubtful for the hosts with the winger suffering from a hip problem while full-back Kyle Walker is sidelined with a groin complaint. Those are the only injury worries for Tottenham although their boss looks likely to ring the changes in regardless with the team more likely to resemble those that have started in the Europa League and the likes of Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Emmanuel Adebayor and Etienne Capoue in line for a rest.

Irish playmaker Andy Reid missed out against Millwall and is again doubtful for this game. Captain Chris Cohen is expected to be out for the rest of the season after he suffered a third serious knee injury in three seasons in their draw with Derby a fortnight ago. Forward Dexter Blackstock is also absent with a knee problem.

Head to Head
This will be the first time these sides have met in almost ten years with Spurs winning 3-0 at the City Ground in an FA Cup replay in March 2005 after being held at White Hart Lane. Forest have only lost one of their last six trips to Tottenham’s home ground, winning three of them.

Recommended Bets
Against an unbeaten and in-form Forest side, it can only be their Premier League status that sees Spurs at 6/10 and the visitors at a huge 17/4 for the win here. The Tottenham line-up that were held to a bore draw by Partizan Belgrade last week look set for selection again and are far from reliable so while I wouldn’t put anybody off a value bet on the away win, the 13/10 on the Double Chance for a Forest win or Draw has more appeal.