Why victory is vital for both Spurs and Nottingham Forest in relegation six-pointer

[p]After a battling performance at Anfield that saw the Lilywhites pick up their first Premier League point under the Croatian, they followed it up with a Champions League win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico Madrid[/a].[/p][h2]Tottenham's fighting spirit[/h2][p]Though the North Londoners ultimately didn't progress in the premier European competition, both that performance and the one against the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Reds[/a] at least showed the fighting spirit that the players still possess.[/p][p]Against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nottingham/UsushcZr/"]Nottingham Forest[/a] on Sunday, however, the recent upturn in form will mean nothing if [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Spurs[/a] are unable to get all three points.[/p][embed guid="6df025f4-2875-4a67-acba-a61fe4716806" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/2034751772821266665" social-type="twitter" /][p]With eight games left to play in the 2025/26 Premier League season, both teams are teetering on the brink of dropping into the bottom three.[/p][p]Currently, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]West Ham[/a] are third from bottom on 29 points, the same total as Forest, who have a slightly better goal difference than the Hammers.[/p][h2]Forest have won the last three vs Spurs[/h2][p]Tottenham sit one place and one point above the Tricky Trees, so if the East Londoners can win their game against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] earlier on Sunday, then either Spurs or Forest will end the weekend in the relegation places if they lose.[/p][p]In terms of current form, the hosts have won one, drawn one and lost three of their last five matches in all competitions, whilst their visitors have won one, drawn two and lost two.[/p][image alt="Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest - Recent head-to-head results" id="f3375822-ba2b-4f10-a74b-244c8ea23c6d" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f4c814cd-e799-4a1c-9d5a-c04e90751f8b" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Somewhat ominously for Tudor, Tottenham have lost their last three league games against Forest, scoring just once, despite having won six in a row against them before that.[/p][p]Heading to North London is normally a happy hunting ground for the Midlanders, too, given that they've won away at Spurs on four separate occasions in the Premier League era. Only at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/southampton/WdKOwxDM/"]Southampton[/a] (five wins) do Forest have a better record.[/p][h2]No league wins for Tottenham in 2026[/h2][p]Tudor also can't escape the fact that his side is the only team without a Premier League win in 2026, drawing five and losing seven of their 12 games. In fact, Tottenham have won just two league matches at home all season, drawing four and losing nine.[/p][p]To put their recent run into some sort of perspective, only from April to November 1912 (13 games) and from December 1934 to April 1935 (16 games) have Spurs ever gone longer without winning in the English top-flight.[/p][image alt="Tottenham's current form (all competitions)" id="0f001c2d-742e-48e3-933f-8de13b4d59ec" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="3884d910-1dda-4ca4-86c9-8f2953b453c6" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Only three other teams have gone longer without a win from the start of a calendar year, and all three ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sunderland/WSzc94ws/"]Sunderland[/a], 17 games in 2002/03; [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/derby/Iug0YO0Q/"]Derby[/a], 18 games in 2007/08 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/middlesbrough/6F0lvLNC/"]Middlesbrough[/a], 14 games in 2016/17) were relegated.[/p][p]Forest also have a new man in charge in Vitor Pereira, with the Portuguese being unbeaten in his three games against Tottenham to date (W1, D2). One of those draws came away at the North Londoners when he was in charge of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wolves/j3Azpf5d/"]Wolverhampton Wanderers[/a] earlier this season.[/p][h2]Anderson will dictate the tempo[/h2][p]The visitors haven't won for seven Premier League games themselves, however (D4 L3), so the odds of this being a low-scoring affair remain high.[/p][p]Certainly, if Tottenham want to get anything out of this match, then they have to stop [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/anderson-elliott/KdYCbsbE/"]Elliot Anderson[/a] from dictating the tempo and flow of the game from midfield.[/p][embed guid="0e2017bc-f3a5-4075-a0a2-44bc704a1564" url="https://x.com/NFFC/status/2034934397300879746" social-type="twitter" /][p]The England international has created the most chances for his team this season (45) and has also made more successful passes than any other midfielder in the Premier League this season (1,679).[/p][p]Even if the hosts do somehow manage to dilute Anderson's influence, they still have to be aware of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sangare-ibrahim/0zOKXsla/"]Ibrahim Sangare[/a] raiding deep into enemy territory and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gibbs-white-morgan/beZNT1bB/"]Morgan Gibbs-White[/a]'s ability to make something out of nothing in the box.[/p][h2]Richarlison the key for Tottenham[/h2][p]With no new injuries other than their long-term absentees, Forest therefore have a relatively clean bill of health ahead of the game.[/p][p]Tottenham, on the other hand, are still without [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maddison-james/YwP0q0m8/"]James Maddison[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/odobert-wilson/CIvgNZLk/"]Wilson Odobert[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kulusevski-dejan/fXLqHCYi/"]Dejan Kulusevski[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bentancur-rodrigo/nLRMnJtJ/"]Rodrigo Bentancur[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kudus-mohammed/hzbcXxIG/"]Mo Kudus[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/davies-ben/65AlIpKT/"]Ben Davies[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bissouma-yves/CSdILBh7/"]Yves Bissouma[/a], with both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/solanke-dominic/OrADwZse/"]Dominic Solanke[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/palhinha-joao/vFArGMai/"]Joao Palhinha[/a] set to undergo late fitness tests to determine their availability.[/p][image alt="Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest - Live win probability" id="58f5e4db-5012-4c98-aa1b-67b107f21291" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="1941b4d2-2178-4fb5-acbd-bcb78c652702" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]One player who is fit for the Lilywhites and who will lead the charge against Forest is [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/richarlison/K82Dz773/"]Richarlison[/a].[/p][p]The Brazilian silenced Anfield last time out in the Premier League, and with nine goals already this season in the top-flight, he's already scored more than twice as many goals as any other Tottenham player, and that's despite starting fewer than half of Spurs' games (14/30).[/p][p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simons-xavi/noo0L9zk/"]Xavi Simons[/a] also starring against Atletico in midweek, and plenty of others finally putting in a real shift for their manager, if Tudor can get his team selection spot on, then at the very least this could become a very intriguing relegation six-pointer indeed.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/nottingham-UsushcZr/tottenham-UDg08Ohm/?mid=n5KMyNNi"]Follow Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest with Flashscore here.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Jason Pettigrove" id="7fb4241a-34f3-46bb-bea3-bd2e5751b2f0" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="d5840f5c-5ebe-43f6-82c7-c810277ba806" original-width="1200" original-height="380" /]