Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Second from bottommost faces 2nd from apical successful the Premier League connected Saturday evening, arsenic Nottingham Forest invited Manchester City to the City Ground.

The 2 teams played retired a 2-2 gully successful their past gathering astatine the Etihad Stadium successful March, with Elliot Anderson scoring a precocious equaliser for Forest earlier completing his big-money determination to City successful the summer.

Match preview

Man City strengthened their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the Champions League past 16 with a 3-2 distant triumph implicit RB Leipzig connected Wednesday, climbing into seventh spot successful the 36-team League Phase array astatine the halfway stage.

Manager Enzo Maresca has admitted that his squad “struggled” successful moments against Leipzig, but the German club’s nemesis Erling Haaland – wearing the captain’s armband – was connected manus to descent location a 78th-minute match-winner for City and his 13th extremity successful conscionable 9 games against Die Roten Bullen.

The Citizens were made to enactment for their triumph implicit Leipzig having antecedently suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion, results that forced them to surrender top spot successful the table to champions Arsenal.

City’s 24-game scoring streak successful the Premier League was halted by a high-flying Seagulls broadside who battled to a narrow 1-0 triumph astatine the Etihad past weekend, contempt Maresca’s men registering 21 shots worthy 1.92 expected goals (xG) and implicit 60% possession.

Not since February/March 2016 nether Manuel Pellegrini person Man City mislaid 3 PL games successful a row, and they caput to the City Ground this play having won 2 of their erstwhile 4 league visits (D1 L1) since Forest’s instrumentality to the apical formation successful 2022, astir precocious winning 2-1 successful December past year.

Oliver Glasner has not made the desired interaction arsenic Nottingham Forest caput coach, with his squad winning lone 1 of their opening 9 Premier League games (D3 L5) and accumulating conscionable a azygous constituent from their past 15 available, leaving them down successful 19th spot successful the table.

Scoring goals has been the cardinal contented for the Tricky Trees, who are the Premier League’s joint-lowest scorers (six) and person drawn a blank successful 5 of their 9 matches, contempt registering the second-most shots per crippled successful the part (16.9), lone down Manchester United (18.6).

A further 15 shots and conscionable 1 connected people successful the 78th infinitesimal was recorded successful past weekend’s 2-0 decision astatine Brentford - different frustrating effect that sparked a passionate post-match rant from Glasner, demanding his players to 'either bargain successful to changes oregon leave' to guarantee that past season’s “s*** situation” does not repetition itself.

Forest’s hierarchy person reportedly welcomed Glasner’s beardown words, but the existent trial is whether his misfiring squad volition yet respond connected the pitch. The Tricky Trees remains winless and goalless successful 5 location fixtures this season, losing their past 2 to Coventry and Arsenal by a 1-0 scoreline.

Glasner present faces a daunting task against Man City, having mislaid 4 of his erstwhile 5 league meetings with them (D1) during his clip arsenic Crystal Palace boss, conceding astatine slightest 3 goals successful each defeat. However, Forest tin gully assurance from their 1-0 location triumph implicit City conscionable 2 seasons ago, acknowledgment to a precocious Callum Hudson-Odoi strike.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest signifier (all competitions):

Manchester City Premier League form:

Manchester City signifier (all competitions):

Team News

Nottingham Forest midfielder Nicolas Dominguez (muscle) and guardant Igor Jesus (calf) are some doubtful, portion defender Nicolo Savona (knee) remains sidelined with a semipermanent injury.

Former Man City youngster Liam Delap has failed to people successful his past 5 starts for Forest and is astatine hazard of losing his centre-forward spot to Chris Wood, who is inactive waiting to commencement hist archetypal league crippled of the season.

James McAtee – different ex-City subordinate – has made a notable content successful a deeper midfield relation wherever helium is expected to continue, portion Daniel Munoz and Ousmane Diomande volition some beryllium pushing for recalls successful defence.

As for Man City, Maresca is not expected to marque wholesale changes, but skipper Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are beardown contenders to gain a callback successful defence astatine the disbursal of Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly.

Enzo Fernandez, who scored his archetypal UCL extremity for City successful midweek, is the astir apt midfielder to play alongside Anderson, though Ayyoub Bouaddi and Mateo Kovacic are 2 cardinal options pushing to regenerate the Argentine.

Haaland – without a extremity successful his past 4 appearances against Forest – volition pb the enactment erstwhile again and could beryllium supported successful onslaught by Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku, the second of whom began arsenic a substitute against Leipzig.

Nottingham Forest imaginable starting lineup:

Sels; Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo; Munoz, McAtee, Schlager, Williams; Ndoye, Gibbs-White; Delap

Manchester City imaginable starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Ndiaye, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

We say: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Manchester City

Forest’s misfiring frontline is simply a increasing interest for Glasner, but the hosts should instrumentality encouragement from Man City’s porous defence that has conceded 14 goals successful their past 7 games successful each competitions.

A closely-contested conflict could beryllium successful store this weekend, but we expect the Citizens to person the objective borderline required to assertion maximum points.

For information investigation of the astir apt results, scorelines and much for this lucifer delight click here.