Nottingham Forest welcome a reinvigorated Spurs in today’s clash
Having bought himself a bit more time in the City Ground dugout, Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper seeks a major scalp over a reinvigorated Tottenham Hotspur in Friday’s Premier League clash.
The Tricky Trees ended their losing streak by battling to a 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out, while Spurs returned to winning ways in a 4-1 crushing of Newcastle United.
Having avoided a potentially fatal fifth-straight defeat, Cooper leads Forest into their Friday fixture with the Tricky Trees occupying 16th place in the Premier League table, safely five points clear of Luton Town in 18th place and within touching distance of an out-of-sorts Crystal Palace.
With the Tottenham doctors still caring for a plethora of stricken players, Postecoglou’s team remain vulnerable to a defensive lapse, and a fired-up Forest side who are seldom shut out at the City Ground should make at least one of their attacking sequences count.
Cooper’s side will be under no illusions that they are playing for their manager’s safety, but with Spurs re-lighting the blue touch paper against Newcastle, the visitors’ offensive excellence should prove too hot for the Tricky Trees to handle, plunging Cooper’s future into fresh doubt.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Struggling Genoa face a charged-up Juventus
A struggling Genoa side has an uphill task this week as they face a charged-up Juventus in Serie A. This matchday 16 will be played at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Friday. The hosts are 14th in the standings before this round, with 15 points and the visitors are 2nd with 36 points.
Genoa find themselves just three points above the bottom-three and are anxiously looking over their shoulder. They were beaten 1-0 by Monza in their last league game that made it a fifth loss across their last eight Serie A matches. This sequence has landed two wins and a draw as well, but the points have been sparse for them.
Despite such worries. Genoa have proven themselves to be a thorn in the flesh when they play at home. They have three wins and a draw from their last five home league matches, with the only defeat coming against Milan.
Juventus are firmly in the Serie A title race and are only two points behind current leaders Inter Milan. A win here will give a temporary stake at that claim and don’t discount the Old Lady from doing that.
Credit: sportytrader.com
Osasuna and Rayo Vallecanolock horns at Estadio El Sadar
Two teams in disappointing runs of form will lock horns in Spain’s top flight on Friday evening, with Osasuna welcoming Rayo Vallecano to Estadio El Sadar.
Osasuna, who are 14th in the La Liga table, are winless in their last six league matches, while 10th-placed Rayo have not triumphed at this level since October 22. Osasuna have not won in the league since October 20, when they recorded a 2-0 victory over Granada, losing three and drawing three of their last six La Liga fixtures.
Osasuna’s recent record against Rayo should hand them confidence heading into this match, meanwhile, as they have won three of their last four games with the capital side in Spain’s top flight, including a 2-1 success in the corresponding match during the 2023-24 campaign.
Rayo, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a goalless draw with Celta Vigo on Monday evening, which stretched their winless run in Spain’s top flight to six matches.
Francisco‘s side boast a record of four wins, eight draws and four defeats from their 16 league matches this season, which has left them in 10th position in the table on 20 points.
Neither side are winning in La Liga at the moment, and it would not be a surprise to see either a home or an away victory, but we are expecting the points to be shared in a goalless draw on Friday night.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
