Relegation rivals Tottenham and Nottingham Forest meet in north London on Sunday (14:15 GMT).
A corner turned for Spurs?
This week marked the end of the road for Tottenham in Europe but also suggested a corner may have been turned in their awful form.
After four consecutive defeats under Igor Tudor, an injury-hit Spurs side scored a last-minute equaliser against Liverpool last Sunday to earn a first point under their interim boss. That was followed by his first win in charge, a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid.
The victory couldn't save Tottenham's European campaign but, just as with the fightback against Liverpool, it was the spirited manner of the performance that gave hope to a Spurs side that has looked beleaguered in recent times.
And against Atletico, they managed to do it in front of their own fans at home, a place where their continuing struggles have been even more sharply thrown into focus.
With their awful injury crisis also showing signs of easing, there is cause for optimism among fans.
However, Tottenham remain one of only two teams in the top four tiers of English football not to have won a league match in 2026, along with already-relegated Championship side Sheffield Wednesday.
Only three Premier League sides have had longer runs without a win from the start of a calendar year, all of whom were relegated (Sunderland in 2002-03, Derby in 2007-08 and Middlesbrough in 2016-17).
Spurs are winless in 12 Premier League games (D5, L7), their longest such run since 1935. Tudor has shown he can get a reaction out of his players, now he needs them to give them his first league victory.
Forest need another Wood
Nottingham Forest's victory in this fixture last season put them third in the table and very much in the Champions League mix, a dream that was dashed only on the final day of the Premier League campaign.
Less than 12 months later, Forest are in a huge battle at the other end of the table and their lack of attacking options this season has been exposed.
Forest had scored 50 goals after 30 league matches in 2024-25; at the same stage this season, they have managed just 28, the second-lowest total in the top flight.
Chris Wood supplied 20 of Forest's 58 Premier League goals last season, but has not played since mid-October because of a knee injury.
Forest spent £160m on forwards and attacking midfielders last summer – so far they have contributed five league goals between them, while centre-forward Lorenzo Lucca, who has scored just once since arriving on loan from Napoli in January, already seems to be out of favour.
Igor Jesus, one of those summer signings, is Forest's top scorer this season with 12 goals but 10 have come in Europe.
Despite having the eighth-highest number of shots this season (384), Forest have the lowest shot conversion rate in the top flight (7.3). They have also failed to score in 14 of their 30 league games, with the 3-0 win over Spurs in the reverse fixture in mid-December the last time they scored three in a league match.
