Tottenham Seek First Points Against Nottingham Forest

Tottenham head back into Premier League combat today still empty-handed, chasing their first points of the season on a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest.

It already feels like a campaign that has started with a limp. Roberto De Zerbi has been fighting fitness problems on all fronts and has not hidden his frustration. He has openly admitted that the club’s pre-season tour left his squad short of the physical edge needed for the opening weeks, and the evidence is all over his team sheet.

Players keep drifting towards the treatment room. Even the new signings, brought in to inject freshness and quality, have not escaped the injury cloud. The good news for De Zerbi is that Savio, the £85m arrival from Manchester City, is available again after a muscle problem.

The Brazilian made an explosive introduction last week, coming off the bench against Charlton to score and provide an assist on debut. It looked like the start of something. Then training bit back. A knock kept him out of the matchday squad for the defeat to Newcastle, underlining just how fragile this Spurs group currently is.

De Zerbi’s main worry now is James Maddison. The playmaker fractured his shoulder on the opening weekend against Brentford and has been sidelined since. He missed the Newcastle loss and is a major doubt for the trip to the City Ground, stripping Tottenham of their chief creator at a time when they are already chasing the pack.

Deadline day brought late movement, and the paperwork for Mykhailo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo was completed in time for them to be eligible this weekend. Only one of them is actually involved. Adarabioyo misses out on the matchday squad entirely, leaving De Zerbi to lean again on a stretched core of defenders.

Mudryk does make the bench, but expectations must be tempered. The Ukrainian has not played a competitive match since November 2024 after serving a doping ban, and De Zerbi has been clear: he is only ready for around 30 minutes against Forest. That makes him a potential impact substitute rather than a headline act from the start.

So Tottenham arrive at the City Ground undercooked, under pressure and still searching for a spark. Whether this patched-up squad can find it today will say plenty about how their season is really going to unfold.