Destiny Udogie Tottenham confusion vs Nottingham Forest as Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert make case

Tottenham suffered their 18th defeat of the Premier League season after falling to a 2-1 loss against Nottingham Forest on Monday evening. Fresh from securing their brilliant 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt four days ago, , as expected, made a number of changes to his team.

The head coach made five in total as , Pape Matar Sarr, , Wilson Odobert and Richarlison came into the starting XI. Destiny Udogie, , was not part of the 20-man squad for the Forest game, however.

It was the visitors who made a fast start to the contest and . Tottenham were very lucky not to be 2-0 down inside the first ten minutes as VAR ruled Chris Wood to be offside when converting Anderson's wicked delivery into the box.

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Wood was to get his goal not long after as he nodded home Anthony Elanga's cross unmarked to leave the hosts with an uphill battle. Tottenham did have a couple of openings to get back into the game, with Mathys Tel thrashing at a free ball in the box and Richarlison heading wide from close range.

Forest could have extended their lead early in the second half as Morgan Gibbs-White drilled an effort wide after expertly teaming up with Wood on the edge of the box. At the other end of the pitch, an incredible acrobatic clearance on the line from Harry Toffolo stopped Kulusevski from reducing the deficit after his header from a corner looked destined to find the far corner.

Richarlison, who went close in the 80th minute with a header that forced Matz Sels into action, then gave the Lilywhites late hope with a fine header from Pedro Porro's inch-perfect cross but it proved to be scant consolation. Here are five things we spotted in the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:

Richarlison's chance

that he would make five or six changes for the visit of Nottingham Forest. It was five alterations he plumped for in the end.

One of those changes saw come into the team in place of Dominic Solanke. The Brazilian had only made two appearances from the bench since returning from injury and this start against Forest was something he was desperate for.

It also gave him the opportunity to stake his claim for regular minutes ahead of a defining period for the club as his campaign has been hampered by injury once again. A big night for the ex-Everton man, he barely had an impact on proceedings to begin with with nothing going for him in and around the box.

He did waste a big chance just before the break when he headed wide from Odobert's cross at a time when Sarr was coming in at the back post. It was only Richarlison's fifth touch of the ball in the first half, thus highlighting his failure to have a real say on the game.

The attacker wouldn't have to wait long for his next chance, this time heading wide from Tel's cross as the delivery was just slightly too high for him. Another was to fall Richarlison's way midway through the second half as Sels stopped him from converting after the ball had stuck Ryan Yates and fell kindly into his path.

After going ever so close with a header that Sels kept out, he made no mistake second time around as he nodded Porro's cross into the far corner of the goal to set up a tense finale. Not only will the goal have given him a lift after his missed opportunities, the same can be said about playing the full game.

Udogie confusion

One of the main talking points regarding Postecoglou's team selection was the absence of . The Italian was outstanding in Frankfurt on Thursday evening but this time he was not part of the squad, which in turn resulted in Tottenham fans duly questioning his omission.

Postecoglou was always going to have to leave players out against Nottingham Forest after naming a 23-man squad away at Eintracht Frankfurt and also because Antonin Kinsky was available again due to his ineligibility in Europe. Amid all the questions surrounding no Udogie, the full-back added some confusion to the situation as he ran out with the rest of the Tottenham squad for the warm up.

The player took part in the pre-match exercises, perhaps as the 21st man on a matchday just in case of injury or illness, but he was not part of the squad on the night.

More Vicario woe

. The shot-stopper did recover from that nightmare four days later as Tottenham won at Eintracht Frankfurt, although in fairness the German side didn't really trouble him on too many occasions.

was unfortunately a talking point once again in the Nottingham Forest game as the visitors raced into a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes. The Italian will feel he could have done better for the first goal of the night after getting a touch to Anderson's powerful, deflected strike that went down the middle of his goal.

He should certainly have done better for Wood's header as he was caught in no man's land when coming for Elanga's cross and getting nowhere near it as the striker got to the ball first.

Wingers bright

Tottenham may have found themselves 2-0 down after 16 minutes but they did impress going forward on occasions in the first half. and were their most dangerous players and the two most likely to get them back into the contest.

The latter did force Sels into action with a low save and he almost caught him out with another attempt that nearly dropped in at the back post. Tel, who appears to be getting better with each passing game due to an increase in minutes, was to have a huge chance himself but he got his shot all wrong as it flashed well wide of the target when having time and space.

Both looked incredibly sharp on the ball and were willing to take on their opponents when given the opportunity, with the pair also creating headed chances for Richarlison just prior to half-time. Tel's impact in the first half could be seen from the fact that he was involved in eight of Tottenham's ten efforts on goal as he had four attempts and created four for his teammates.

Odobert would be replaced after the hour mark as Brennan Johnson was introduced but he did well in his game time and has certainly given his head coach something to think about when it comes to his front three.

Managing minutes

Postecoglou always looked set to switch things up at half-time with Tottenham 2-0 down. However, not many would have predicted a defensive change at a time when an attacking alteration always looked likely.

That is what happened, though, as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven made away for Ben Davies and Kevin Danso. The duo exiting the field didn't exactly cover themselves in glory for Wood's goal as he was allowed to run between them unchallenged to head home Elanga's cross.

Despite that poor piece of defending, very few would have had both down to not return for the start of the second half. It did have a look of a pre-planned substitution about it given the half-time switch, especially with the upcoming Europa League semi-final clash against Bodo/Glimt coming up and also because of their injury troubles this term.

All eyes will now be on Postecoglou's team selection at Liverpool on Sunday.