Nottingham Forest – Tottenham Hotspur: The hosts punish Postecoglou’s verticality (1-0)

The home team remained the sensation of the Premier League, whilst the visitors continued to be its biggest disappointment. Postecoglou's ultra-vertical style was punished in the absence of his two starting center-backs, and Nuno's Forest made it clear that, every now and then, football followed logic. Without a player to dictate the tempo for the visitors, the hosts only needed discipline and hard work to execute individual matchups, avoid falling for the opponent's inter-lane movements, and wait to recover possession and transition effectively to score.

Tactical analysis and match report by Juan Lauz.

Nottingham Forest simply aimed to keep surprising. Three consecutive Premier League wins were behind Nuno’s boys, who lined up today in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation. Center-backs Nikola Milenković and Murillo were flanked on the left by Neco Williams and on the right by Ola Aina. The double pivot consisted of Ryan Yates and Elliot Anderson, with Morgan Gibbs-White ahead of them, Anthony Elanga on the right wing, Callum Hudson-Odoi on the left, and Chris Wood up front.

The London team arrived in Nottingham looking to bounce back from their last defeat against league leaders Liverpool, making three changes to their own 4-2-3-1 formation. The defensive line, from left to right, featured Destiny Udogie, Archie Gray, Radu Drăgușin, and Djed Spence. Rodrigo Bentancur partnered with Pape Sarr in midfield, whilst Dejan Kulusevski played in the central attacking role, flanked by Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson on the . . .