Premier League: Is Steve Cooper on Borrowed Time?

Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur

There’s a huge chance that another Premier League manager will get sacked, depending on how this week goes. After Paul Heckingbottom, the next particular name in mind is Steve Cooper, whose tenure is now under threat at Nottingham Forest, as per the latest Premier League 2023 news.

With five consecutive matches without a single win, Nottingham Forest are in 16^th place in the Premier League standings.

Forest currently have 14 points, which means that they’re safe for now (since 18^th-placed Luton Town have nine points), but they might fall further if they don’t turn things around soon, which might come at the expense of Cooper’s job.

Meanwhile, Tottenham are finally back to winning ways and are keen on building a new winning streak to mount a top four challenge anew.

Talking Points

Cooper could face the axe

Steve Cooper needed to win against Wolves to remain at the helm for Forest after they had only managed one win in the previous 11 outings, and it felt like he would finally break his duck.

Harry Toffolo scored the first goal of the game to put Forest up 1-0 in the 14^th minute, but it was cancelled out by Matheus Cunha’s equaliser 18 minutes later.

Toffolo failed to convert his second-half chance, so Nottingham Forest came away with a much-needed point, and Cooper gets to live another day.

After the game, Cooper denied rumours of his imminent sacking, and he is confident that the team will do better moving forward. But unfortunately for them, up next are Tottenham, who just managed to beat up Newcastle United 4-1 on Monday.

Steve Cooper knows that he cannot engage Spurs in a shootout, especially since they don’t have the firepower and backline to keep up with Postecoglou and co.

One main reason for Nottingham Forest’s downfall is the absence of Taiwo Awoniyi, who is their top scorer with four goals this season. The Nigerian striker is set for a long spell on the sidelines after injuring his groin during the last international break. 

Udogie and Kulusevski thriving at Tottenham

After impressing for Tottenham this year, Destiny Udogie and Dejan Kulusevski were both rewarded by the team, with the former signing a seven-year extension and the latter signing a five-year extension.

The two of them deserve their new deals since they have been key players under Ange Postecoglou, especially during their superb start to the 2023-24 campaign.

Against Newcastle United last time out, Udogie scored his first goal for Spurs through Heung-Min Son’s assist, which gave them the lead for good.

Kulusevski, meanwhile, was the one responsible for holding Manchester City to a 3-3 draw. And he is now the team’s joint-second-leading scorer (alongside Richarlison), with four goals this term.

With Tottenham dealing with a raft of injuries, Udogie and Kulusevski are two players who will play huge roles in keeping the Spurs viable for title contention this year.

History

Nottingham Forest have lost their last four Premier League matches against Tottenham after winning four consecutive league matches against them between 1995 and 1997.

Spurs are gunning for their third consecutive win at City Ground this weekend for the first time since a run of four between 1989 and 1991.

Forest have lost their last two league matches at City Ground, which is as many as they had in their previous 20 home games (W9, D9). They last lost three straight between August and September last season, and Tottenham were one of the teams that dealt them a loss.

These two clubs met three times last season, where Tottenham achieved a league double over Nottingham Forest with an aggregate tally of 5-1.

However, Nottingham Forest won the other meeting, which was a 2-0 result during the third round of the EFL Cup in November 2022.

Betting Tip

The SBOTOP Premier League 2023 odds have Tottenham winning this game easily, as they are priced at 1.77, whereas Nottingham Forest are at 3.94 odds, and a draw is at 3.54 in the 1×2 market.

Both teams badly need this victory for different reasons, but we feel that the Spurs will get it on Friday since they have the better team on paper.

Total Goal 2-3 at 2.03 should get the job done for Ange Postecoglou’s boys, but we won’t be surprised if they overwhelm their hosts with a barrage of goals.

So, other than the bets we’ve just mentioned, you also might want to consider going for Total Goal 4-6 at 2.77 and Over 3.25 at 2.29 for better value.

 

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