Football London

Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has expressed his surprise at Tottenham's struggles in the Premier League this season. Having managed Spurs for a brief period in 2021, Nuno is well aware of the club's capabilities, making their current 16th position all the more astonishing.

This season has been full of unexpected twists, with Forest mounting a serious challenge for Champions League qualification, which looks set to go down to the wire. Tottenham's poor form has been particularly surprising, with manager Ange Postecoglou's position being somewhat salvaged by their Europa League prospects.

“I think this season there are things that were not expected, and the Spurs situation is clearly one of them," the former Spurs boss said.

“All the teams have problems, some more than others. I’m not deeply informed on the Spurs situation, but we are talking about a big club full of talented players.

“They have a good manager that in previous seasons did fantastically well. It happens, and it’s happened to many teams.”

Despite back-to-back defeats raising concerns about Forest's top-five finish, Nuno remains proud of the season's accomplishments, including an upcoming FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. "It is what everyone should feel," he said.

"They should feel proud and committed to the final sprint of the competition. I think so. That's why we as a group and as a club are proud to be in this fight.

"In one week's time we will be speaking about another huge moment for us, so we embrace it. We are delighted. The criticisms will come, the opinions will come, the doubts will come, and we are here for that."

Bodo/Glimt will come up against English opposition for the second time in the Europa League this season when they travel to Tottenham in May. The Norwegian side have shocked quite a few in the 2024/25 edition of the competition after managing to progress to a semi-final showdown against Spurs.

Bodo/Glimt are now two games away from an unlikely place in the final after knocking out Lazio on penalties in the quarter-finals. Tottenham are the favourites to progress in the semi-final tie but it certainly will not be straightforward if Bodo/Glimt's results in the Europa League are anything to go by.

As part of the league phase, Kjetil Knutsen's side played Manchester United in one of their eight league games. They gave Ruben Amorim quite the challenge in his first game as Red Devils boss but the hosts eventually ran out 3-2 winners.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, the Portuguese boss opened up on the threat Bodo/Glimt would pose his team.

"I'm expecting a very good team," he said, as reported by Manchester United's official website. "They can win the league this week I think, they run a lot and that's a very good thing for us at the moment. We need to improve that, so we know that in this game we have to run a lot.

"They have some special players in the wingers, they can play in the pockets very well and they have aura of winning games and this is also because they're winning all the time.

"I'm expecting a very intense game, a very good game and I hope to see different things. Improve some things we didn't do so well in the last game, so it will be a good game."

Amorim was certainly right about Bodo/Glimt's wingers as Philip Zinckernagel, formerly of Watford and Nottingham Forest, gave them a 2-1 lead on the night after they had initially trailed to Alejandro Garnacho's opener inside the first minute. United recovered from their losing position, though, and won courtesy of Rasmus Hojlund's double either side of the break.

In his time with TV broadcasters after the game, Amorim once again praised Bodo/Glimt and mentioned their threat on transitions.

“We knew that Bodo was a strong team. Very good on transitions," he said. "They have quality players, good connections, a very good team. But I think we had the first goal, like the last game and then we suffered two goals in transitions.

"We controlled the game, we controlled the tempo of the game. Just the last 10 minutes was tough for us. We had opportunities to kill the game and then in the end we suffer a little bit, but I think we deserved the win.”

Amorim was pressed even further on the Eliteserien side in his post-match press conference and he highlighted the speed and power they possess and also the fact they are a very impressive team.

"They are a very well worked team, so they know each other very well," outlined the 40-year-old. "You can understand that if you see that the goals were one touch, so they have the time that we don't have working together.

"They have a lot of speed and power. With the transitions you feel that in the game that they have a lot of power and it was a tough game in that aspect. But we controlled very well the tempo of the ball, We kept the ball so long that we controlled and was able to manage that. So they're a great team, I think they will win the league again. It was a tough match."

Tottenham are indeed in for a tough match and the challenge of Bodo/Glimt should not be underestimated. They have already taken some notable scalps and the next one on their list is that of Ange Postecoglou's side.

Preparing for Frankfurt - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action with the visit of former head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and his Nottingham Forest team on Monday night.

Spurs must turn their attentions back to the Premier League after Thursday night's big victory in Frankfurt sent them through to the Europa League semi-finals, where they will face Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt across two legs next month. Tottenham have six difficult league fixtures remaining and they need to clamber back up the table after a difficult campaign.

Postecoglou made it clear in his pre-match press conference that he is going to make "five or six changes" for this game against Forest after Spurs' exploits in Germany, so the Australian will have to decide whether players like Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Kevin Danso and Wilson Odobert will start the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Spurs head coach will have to make changes without losing the team's rhythm which means keeping some of the spine of the team that won in Frankfurt.

Here's the Tottenham team we reckon Postecoglou will select:

Tottenham have eight fixtures remaining in the 2024/25 campaign. The hope will be that there is a further game for Ange Postecoglou's side as they contest for a place in the Europa League final.

Before Spurs return to European action with a semi-final double-header against Bodo/Glimt of Norway on the calendar, the north London club have Nottingham Forest and Liverpool to come in the Premier League. Not only are the upcoming fixtures key for Tottenham in terms of the Premier League and Europa League, they are also going to be pivotal in regards to upping the minutes of some players ahead of a defining month.

Postecoglou has had to deal with injury issues aplenty over the course of the term and a few of his squad have only just returned from time in the treatment room. So which players does Postecoglou need to give an increase in playing time to over the next few weeks? football.london takes a look below.

Kevin Danso

Kevin Danso made his return from a hamstring injury in Tottenham's 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening. The Austrian international may have only come on in the 85th minute but he more than played his part in helping Tottenham remain defensively strong late on to ensure they got the job done in Germany.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Saturday morning, Postecoglou stated that Danso had in fact come back slightly early as he "wasn't due back for another week or so". The boss also outlined that it's important his defender gets game time in the next couple of fixtures as he thinks he will be "important" for the team.

So, Danso could well come into the starting XI on Monday when Nottingham Forest visit N17.

Richarlison

Richarlison is someone else who will be pushing for a start against Nottingham Forest. The Brazilian has made two substitute appearances since his return and he has remained unused on the bench on two occasions.

His versatility does give Postecoglou options, with the 27-year-old a contender to either start as a striker or on the left-wing. He can still have a big say in what remains of the season but he needs to get up to match sharpness after so little football in recent months.

Mathys Tel

Whereas Danso and Richarlison need the minutes, Mathys Tel is match fit after featuring fairly regularly since his loan move from Bayern Munich. The Frenchman has started the past two games for Tottenham and he delivered a very good showing on the left-wing in the win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

With Tottenham facing a decision in the summer whether to buy the 19-year-old or not due to a £45.8million purchase option in their agreement with Bayern Munich, a few more starts for the exciting talent could possibly persuade the club to part with the aforementioned fee. There is still a lot more to come from Tel and Spurs may see even more from him if he continues to feature regularly between now and the end of May.

Wilson Odobert

Postecoglou has been managing Wilson Odobert's minutes recently, with the French winger not part of the squad for last weekend's defeat at Wolves. The 20-year-old returned to the matchday party for the game in Frankfurt but he remained an unused substitute across the 90 minutes.

Odobert has not featured in Tottenham's last three games, with his last outing for the side coming in the 3-1 win over Southampton a fortnight ago. He will hopefully feature prominently in Monday's game against Nottingham Forest.

Dejan Kulusevski

Dejan Kulusevski appears in line to start Tottenham's home encounter against Nottingham Forest amid question marks over James Maddison's fitness. The attacking midfielder took a huge hit when winning Spurs a penalty away at Eintracht Frankfurt and it resulted in him making way minutes later.

Kulusevski got a good 45 minutes to his name in what was only his second appearance since returning from a foot injury. Now it's vital that the Swede continues to see an increase in match action as he is going to be absolutely vital when it comes to Tottenham trying to win the Europa League.

Micky van de Ven

It has been very stop-start for Micky van de Ven since making his comeback from injury. Postecoglou does tend to start the Dutchman and drop him back down to the bench the following match to ensure he is not pushed too much.

It is going to be interesting to see Postecoglou's approach over the coming days as he may continue alternating Van de Ven in games or potentially play him in successive games for the first time since March. Back-to-back starts would do the youngster the world of good but it will all come down to whether Postecoglou wants to take that chance going on Van de Ven's injury woes this term.

Preparing for Frankfurt - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou has made it clear that Richarlison is set to get game time for Tottenham in the next couple of Premier League fixtures and explained how important Dominic Solanke, Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson were to the win in Frankfurt.

Solanke proved to be the matchwinner in Germany with a calmly-taken penalty before half-time - his first goal since January 4 before his knee injury lay-off - and the England international put in a trademark all-action display to constantly hassle and harass the Frankfurt defence throughout.

Alongside him, Tel and Johnson played their part in pinning their hosts back while also showing plenty of discipline in helping Tottenham keep the clean sheet.

Postecoglou was full of praise for Solanke and the two wide men, while making it clear that Richarlison's turn is coming.

"I know Dom is a striker and when they don’t score people will focus on that but he’s such an important part of the way we play. Our back four/five were outstanding but our front three were so disciplined also in their defensive work on Thursday," said the Spurs boss.

"Dom and the two wingers had important jobs for us from a defensive point of view. You ask them to do such a massive physical load and then they still have to produce when the ball gets up to them in an attacking sense. And maybe in other teams… if you look at Frankfurt, they don’t ask that of [Hugo] Ekitike. When he gets the ball he feels fresh and he can run at people.

"Dom usually receives the ball when he’s done four or five sprints closing people down so you factor that into it, but we feel as a team that gives us a better chance of success. I was delighted for him. He took his penalty really well. Don’t underestimate the pressure he was under in that moment, taking a penalty away in Europe knowing how significant it is, right in front of the most vocal part of their fanbase.

"It shows the measure of the guy. He didn't miss a beat. Important goal for us, important player for us, and we missed him when he was out, and when he was out Richy was out and that was a big hole in our team. Richy is another one who is going to get some game time in the next couple of games because he's looking really good in training, but Dom’s been super important."

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has sent fans on a trip down memory lane in his latest message sent to an old teammate who often went undervalued and under the radar.

Casting minds back almost 10 years ago, when Dele was breaking onto the scene one of his teammates was dominating in a whole different way.

A staple of Tottenham's midfield for almost seven years, Mousa Dembele is a player Spurs fans will never forget, but the rest of the world seems to struggle to remember.

The Belgian international was one of the most naturally gifted dribblers the game has seen and in a post recirculated on social media by Alli, has one particularly impressive stat.

During an especially remarkable five month spell in 2016, Dembele displayed so much prowess in the midfield that not a single player was able to tackle him.

With the ball seemingly glued to his feet the Belgian managed to dominate the centre of the pitch wiggling out of almost any situation.

His skill and talent was noticed by his teammates with many now recalling how Dembele was one of the most naturally gifted players they ever shared a pitch with, but despite his talent the international's skills seems to be all but forgotten.

That was until Dele Alli who formed an exciting partnership with Dembele during their time at Spurs couldn't resist chiming in.

Now playing his football at Como in Italy after some tricky spells at Besiktas and Everton, he took to X to set things straight, in a post replying to the stat, the former England international said: "Damn, my goat".

Dembele clocked up a staggering 249 games in the Lilywhite shirt and while goals and assists weren't always the defining aspect of his game, scoring just 10 and assisting 11, the midfielder's role at the heart of the time under Mauricio Pochettino's reign was undeniable.

His role winning back possession deeper in the field and driving the ball through the midfield helped to create the chances that made the likes of Alli, Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen more obviously successful.

It is so important that Tottenham follow up their brilliant win at Eintracht Frankfurt with another big performance against Nottingham Forest. The sides have had to watch on over the course of the weekend as their Premier League rivals play but they meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in an Easter Monday fixture.

The game sees Nuno Espirito Santo return to N17 for the second time since his dismissal as Tottenham head coach in November 2021. The Portuguese boss has made a huge difference at the City Ground since becoming Forest boss and he has his side in the mix for a place in next season's Champions League.

Tottenham, in comparison, are languishing in the bottom half and they need the points to rise up the table as they look for a strong finish to the campaign in both the Premier League and Europa League. Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Saturday morning, Ange Postecoglou admitted he is "going to have to make five or six changes to the team" because he wants to "make sure that everyone's sort of in the right space".

Here we take a look at the changes Postecoglou could consider for Monday's game:

Djed Spence for Pedro Porro/Destiny Udogie

Djed Spence was an unused substitute in midweek but he looks a certainty to come in against his former loan club. It remains to be seen if he will operate from right-back or left-back, though.

Both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie were given a breather in the last Premier League fixture at Wolves but you would expect only one to drop out this time.

Kevin Danso for Micky van de Ven/Cristian Romero

Kevin Danso made his return from injury in the final few minutes of the Eintracht Frankfurt game as he helped Tottenham see out the win. Now it's about increasing his minutes over the coming weeks and the Austrian will be in contention to start at home to Nottingham Forest.

Micky van de Ven could well take his place on the bench again as Postecoglou will not want to push him too much ahead of two pivotal European games. Cristian Romero, on the other hand, would benefit from a rest at some point.

Pape Matar Sarr for Rodrigo Bentancur/Lucas Bergvall

Postecoglou has his first-choice midfield three in mind now and it would be a surprise if both Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall drop to the bench. We have seen on a couple of occasions where he has had to introduce both from the bench early in the second half because of those coming into the team struggling.

Only one may drop out this time, with Pape Matar Sarr given a start in the process.

Dejan Kulusevski for James Maddison

James Maddison is a doubt for Monday night after copping a big whack when winning the penalty that Dominic Solanke converted in Frankfurt. As Maddison came off a few minutes after the incident, it makes sense for Tottenham to take it easy with him considering what they have in store over the next month.

It should be a straightforward decision for Postecoglou with Dejan Kulusevski coming in.

Wilson Odobert for Brennan Johnson

Brennan Johnson put in a big shift in Frankfurt during midweek and he may drop down to the bench against his former club. As Postecoglou is likely to switch things up, it appears the perfect opportunity to hand Wilson Odobert a start after not featuring since his cameo appearance against Southampton at the beginning of the month.

Richarlison for Dominic Solanke/Mathys Tel

Richarlison is another player who would benefit from an increase in playing time after only managing two late substitute appearances since recovering from injury. The Brazilian still has a big part to play in the run-in and it is vital that Postecoglou and Spurs give him the necessary minutes to boost his levels ahead of some huge fixtures.

Richarlison could replace Solanke in the XI if the boss wants to rest his main striker or he could potentially shift over to the left and take on Mathys Tel's role. The ex-Everton man's versatility is a big plus and that leaves Postecoglou with options for the Nottingham Forest match.

Preparing for Frankfurt - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

It is fair to say Ryan Sessegnon's Tottenham career did not really get off the ground.

The Englishman joined Spurs from Fulham in a £25million deal in 2019 and Tottenham thought they had signed one of the most promising young players in England at the time.

Hampered by a number of injuries, however, Sessegnon could not deliver as he and many supporters would have wanted in Spurs colours.

Sessegnon would only feature 57 times for Spurs in six seasons and was released by the club at the end of his contract in the summer. There was an option for Spurs to extend his deal by a further year, but that option was not taken up by Ange Postecoglou.

Speaking after leaving the club, Sessegnon said: "From making my debut to scoring in the Champions League. I'll always cherish these moments. Unfortunately, things didn't work out the way I or the club wanted during my time here. It broke my heart that I couldn't play in front of you a lot more."

But while his Spurs career did not take off, he has proved he can do it in the Premier League, back where he came from. Upon the conclusion of his Tottenham contract, Sessegnon made the move back to Fulham, from whom Spurs signed him in 2019.

And after taking his time this season to work his way back to full match fitness, Sessegnon is proving he belongs at the top level.

Sessegnon came off the bench to score against Tottenham in March, in just three minutes on the pitch, curling home a beauty after out-muscling Ben Davies.

That was his second goal in three games, having scored in the 2-1 win over Wolves. At that time, the 24-year-old had a goal involvement every 36 minutes, having played just 76 minutes of football across those three matches.

He added an assist against Arsenal in 13 minutes on the pitch, to bring his goal involvement average down to 30 minutes. He then scored against Liverpool in the surprise 3-2 win at Craven Cottage, although he was on the pitch for 82 minutes. That took him to averaging a goal involvement every 42.75 minutes.

Nothing in 57 minutes in a defeat to Bournemouth followed, but he is back at it against Chelsea in the west London derby on Sunday.

Sessegnon won the ball back in midfield and after striding towards the box, squared for Alex Iwobi to fire home in the 20th minute.

That made it three goals and two assists in seven games and at the point of assisting, gave him a goal involvement every 49.6 minutes - surely making him the most in-form player in the Premier League right now.

Those minutes have increased, with the match ongoing and Sessegnon still on the pitch, but if nothing else, he has proved to Postecoglou and Spurs that he is still the player they paid £25million for six years ago.

Tottenham fans will not have to wait too long for the team's Europa League semi-final showdown against Bodo/Glimt. The sides will meet for the first time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, May 1, before then playing the second leg in Norway on Thursday, May 8.

Tottenham are the outright favourites to secure a place in the final but they will certainly not have it all their own way against Bodo/Glimt. Kjetil Knutsen's team have made a name for themselves in the competition this season after beating Porto and Braga in the league phase to finish ninth in the table.

They then went on to record notable results against FC Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio in the knockout stage to set up a semi-final showdown against Tottenham. Ahead of the first-leg tie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bodo/Glimt have learnt of two changes to their Eliteserien schedule around the Europa League clashes.

The first involves their away game at Fredrikstad that was due to be played on Thursday, May 1, the day of their European away game at Tottenham. As that date was part of matchday five in the Norwegian league, it could quite easily have been moved back a couple of days to be played on the Sunday but that is not the case.

Instead, Bodo/Glimt will now play their fixture at Fredrikstad on Wednesday, July 16. That in turn gives Knutsen and his team a full week to prepare for the decisive second leg against Tottenham at their Aspmyra Stadion, which in turn could possibly prove crucial to the outcome of the tie.

Their second fixture change is not one that directly impacts their Europa League semi-final showdown with Spurs as it involves their home match against Stromsgodset that was due to be played on Saturday, May 10 following the conclusion of the semi-finals. That fixture will now take place on Wednesday, July 30.

In terms of the bookmakers' odds to win the Europa League trophy in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21, Bodo/Glimt are at the bottom of the list. Tottenham are the current favourites, with Athletic Club and Manchester United then next in line.

However, we have seen a number of surprises in the competition so far this season and Bodo/Glimt will be hoping to spring another one as they target an incredible Europa League triumph.

Preparing for Frankfurt - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

Bodo/Glimt could be at a huge disadvantage for their Europa League semi-final first leg against Tottenham due to UEFA's suspension rules.

The Norwegian champions pulled off a huge upset in the previous round as they beat Serie A side, and league phase winners, Lazio in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. On the edge of the Arctic Circle, Bodo won the first leg 2-0 but Lazio repeated that score line on home soil which forced extra-time.

Both teams were on target in the 30 minutes that followed with goals from Boulaye Dia and Andreas Helmersen taking the quarter-final to spot-kicks and a miss from Lazio's Valentin Castellanos ultimately proved decisive.

In Germany meanwhile, Tottenham put in an extremely disciplined performance to beat Eintracht Frankfurt. Heading into a hopeful semi-final first leg, which Bodo do have a fixture advantage for, a total of 10 players from Spurs and Bodo/Glimt could have missed out through suspension, but only three will actually be absent.

All of those absentees are from Bodo/Glimt with captain Patrick Berg, Hakon Evjen and Helmersen all suspended. The latter was sent off against Lazio while the other two picked up their third yellow cards of the competition.

Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski were all at risk of being banned but none of the trio were cautioned. Fredrik Bjorkan, Jostein Gundersen, Fredrik Sjovold and Isak Matta were the Bodo quartet that avoided bookings and thus cannot be suspended going forward unless they are sent off, as explained by UEFA.

"Exceptionally, all yellow cards and pending yellow-card suspensions expire on completion of the play-offs," it is stated in Article 52.04 of their handbook. "They are not carried forward to the group stage. In addition, all yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals. They are not carried forward to the semi-finals."

Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero were shown yellows in Spurs' second leg win but that was the latter's first of the campaign while Bentancur has already served a suspension in Europe and as it was his fourth, it does not result in a one-match ban.

Looking ahead to that first clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the good news is that the players previously at risk can no longer miss a game through suspension, unless sent off as bookings are wiped out. UEFA rules also state a player cannot be banned for the final even if they are cautioned in both semi-final legs.