Tottenham expected to miss most important player vs. Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Tottenham will face Nottingham Forest on Monday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and given that Spurs are buried in the Premier League table while Forest are legitimate Champions League contenders, this could be a long night in front of the fans if players don't step up for an increasingly under fire Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs will already be without the legend of their biggest player, club legend Son Heung-min, who has finally been shut down after an apparently lengthy injury issue. That's a tough enough loss, but as recent games have shown, a healthy Mathys Tel is better than an injured Son.

However, Tottenham look set to miss an even more important player to them in the short term, as manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed that attacking midfielder James Maddison is a doubt against Nottingham Forest with some soreness after a monstrous second leg victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night in the Europa League quarterfinals.

James Maddison is a doubt with soreness

Big Ange said, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold, "We had the day off yesterday as we didn't get back until the early hours of Friday morning. Madders is probably a bit sore so a doubt for Monday. Sonny is still out."

Confirmation of Son's absence is not surprising and honestly a positive, because the last thing Tottenham or the South Korean icon need is for the winger to be playing when he's not healthy. But the Maddison blow would be a very tough one for Tottenham against a Nottingham Forest side that is legitimately one of the best defensive units in European football.

Maddison has been Spurs most consistent player in the 2024/25 season, particularly from an attacking perspective. He is their best technician and playmaker, making the difference in so many big matches, especially in the hard-fought Europa League quarterfinal draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tottenham must play it safe with Maddison

While Postecoglou has left the door open for Maddison by calling him a "doubt" instead of saying he is outright "out", with Tottenham not really playing for anything meaningful in the Premier League this season but having everything on the line in the Europa League, messing with any soreness makes no sense. That's especially true when it comes to Maddison, who is not only vital to what Tottenham do but also has an injury history that makes the cautious approach best.

Tottenham will probably shift Dejan Kulusevski into a midfield role without Maddison and have him take on the most attacking role in the middle of the park with Brennan Johnson starting again on the right side of the attack across from either Wilson Odobert or Mathys Tel as the Son replacement.