5 players who will decide Tottenham vs. Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Tottenham need a statement win in the Premier League after losing 4-2 to Wolves last weekend in what was a truly embarrassing result for a team that is closer to the relegation places than they are to qualifying for any sort of European football in the 2025/26 season.

After defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 on the road to punch their ticket to the Europa League semifinals, there is room for optimism at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night, but this season's surprise package in the Premier League, Nottingham Forest, beckons.

Here are five players who will decide the game.

Tottenham CB Kevin Danso

All eyes will be on Kevin Danso, who, like so many center backs in the Premier League right now, was once one of the biggest standouts at the position in Ligue 1. Renowned for his reading of the game and passing abilities for upstarts Lens in the 2022/23 season, we have yet to see the best of Danso in a Spurs kit.

The game against Nottingham Forest is a great opportunity for Ange Postecoglou to roll out the Austrian international as a starter and see what he is made of against one of the most in-form strikers in the Premier League this season, big man Chris Wood.

Nottingham Forest ST Chris Wood

With 18 goals scored this season, Chris Wood has found the back of the net more than any player in this fixture, and you can make a compelling argument that he will be the best player on the pitch this coming Monday.

The priority for Tottenham will be stopping Wood. They cannot afford to give him even an inch of space, because he can take the smallest amount of breathing room and turn it into something with his strength and with the finishing chops he has shown this season. Wood is the toughest striker to beat in the air in the Premier League, and Tottenham are going to need whoever plays at center back to be extremely vigilant on crosses and set pieces.

Tottenham CM Yves Bissouma

Yves Bissouma is, quite frankly, on his last legs as a Tottenham player, and I think that no matter what happens to end the 2024/25 Premier League and Europa League seasons, the former Brighton midfielder isn't going to be starting many games for Tottenham next season.

So he's fighting for a spot as a squad player, and he is going to have to start showing some tangible value to Tottenham, otherwise they need to find anyone willing to take on his wages. Bissouma has been disappointing defensively and flat-out terrible offensively. He's not creating chances, his progressive output has been meandering, and he is a dime-a-dozen midfielder in the Premier League.

If he can't put in a convincing performance on both ends of the pitch against Nottingham Forest, he will be one step closer to getting pushed out the door. Forest are a good team, and this is the kind of test that Tottenham should use as a measuring stick for underperforming players like Bissouma.

Nottingham Forest AM Morgan Gibbs-White

It's been great to see Chris Wood getting a lot of credit this season as the leader of the Nottingham Forest attack when Forest are mostly known as a defensive team. But I like to think of Morgan Gibbs-White as the mastermind behind the operation, beacuse he is a well-rounded and active creative impetus who sits behind Wood and does so well at negotiating all of his duties, whether they be defensive or in creatively supporting the lone striker.

Gibbs-White is one of the top players in the Premier League right now in his role, and I'd rate his season above James Maddison's. He is an intelligent and hard-working footballer, and if Tottenham's midifeld isn't as alert and as adept defensively, he could pick them apart this Monday.

Tottenham RW Brennan Johnson

As tough as I can be on Brennan Johnson sometimes when it comes to his inconsistent play and inability to grab games by the scruff of their neck, I am that way with the young Welsh international because I can see the clear ability and future superstar potential in him.

Johnson quietly has the second-most goals in the 2024/25 Premier League season of any player in this fixture with 11. His all-around play as a winger needs to get better, and facing Nottingham Forest is a great chance for him to break out of his shell and prove to Tottenham that, at 23, he already has the ability to get it done against one of England's best defensive sides. This game is a great test for Johnson to rise to the occasion under pressure.