Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City – News and Probable Lineups

On Saturday evening, the Premier League sees a matchup between the team sitting second from bottom and the team second from top, as Nottingham Forest take on Manchester City at the City Ground.

In their previous clash at the Etihad Stadium in March, the two sides ended in a 2-2 draw, with Elliot Anderson securing a late equalizer for Forest before making his big-money transfer to City during the summer.

Match overview

Manchester City bolstered their chances of automatic progression to the Champions League’s last 16 with a 3-2 away win against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, moving up to seventh in the 36-team League Phase standings at the midway point.

Head coach Enzo Maresca acknowledged that his squad faced difficulties against Leipzig at times, but Erling Haaland, their star player and captain, emerged as the match-winner in the 78th minute, marking his 13th goal in just nine encounters against Die Roten Bullen.

City had to fight hard for their triumph over Leipzig after previously enduring back-to-back defeats in the Premier League against Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion, which saw them relinquish their top position in the table to reigning champions Arsenal.

Last weekend, City’s impressive 24-game goal-scoring streak in the Premier League came to an end at the hands of a spirited Brighton side, who claimed a narrow 1-0 victory at the Etihad, despite the fact that Maresca’s team produced 21 shots generating 1.92 expected goals (xG) and maintained over 60% possession.

Since February and March of 2016, when managed by Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City have not suffered three consecutive PL losses, and they head to the City Ground this weekend having triumphed in two of their last four league visits (D1 L1) since Forest’s promotion to the top division in 2022, with their latest victory being a 2-1 win in December last year.

Oliver Glasner has yet to achieve the desired impact as Nottingham Forest’s head coach, with his team managing to win just one of their first nine Premier League matches (D3 L5) and securing only a single point from their last 15 available, leaving them positioned 19th in the league standings.

Finding the net has been a significant challenge for the Tricky Trees, who are among the lowest scorers in the Premier League (six) and have failed to score in five out of nine matches, despite registering the second-highest shots per game in the league (16.9), ranking only behind Manchester United (18.6).

In last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Brentford, Forest took another 15 shots but managed to register only one on target in the 78th minute – a disheartening result that prompted Glasner to express his frustration in a passionate post-match commentary, urging his players to either commit to changes or exit the club to avoid a repeat of last season’s dire circumstances.

Management at Forest have supposedly welcomed Glasner’s stern remarks, but the true test will be whether his struggling squad can finally respond positively on the pitch. The Tricky Trees remain without a win and have yet to score in five home matches this season, having lost their last two fixtures to Coventry and Arsenal by a scoreline of 1-0.

Glasner now faces a formidable challenge against Manchester City, having lost four out of his last five league encounters with them (D1) during his tenure at Crystal Palace, conceding at least three goals in each defeat. However, Forest can draw some confidence from their 1-0 home victory over City just two seasons ago, courtesy of a late strike from Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Team News

Midfielder Nicolas Dominguez (muscle) and forward Igor Jesus (calf) are both considered doubtful for Nottingham Forest, while defender Nicolo Savona (knee) is ruled out due to a long-term injury.

Former Manchester City talent Liam Delap has not found the back of the net in his last five starts for Forest and may risk losing his center-forward position to Chris Wood, who is still awaiting his first league start of the season.

James McAtee, another former City player, has made a significant impact in a deeper midfield role and is expected to retain his position, while Daniel Munoz and Ousmane Diomande are both pushing for places in defence.

For Manchester City, Maresca is not anticipated to implement significant changes, but captain Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are strong candidates to return to defence in place of Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly.

Enzo Fernandez, who netted his first UCL goal for City midweek, is likely to partner Anderson in midfield, although Ayyoub Bouaddi and Mateo Kovacic are also central options pushing to replace the Argentine.

Haaland, currently without a goal in his last four meetings against Forest, is set to lead the attack once again and may be supported by Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki, and Jeremy Doku, the latter who began as a substitute against Leipzig.

Nottingham Forest probable starting XI:

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

Manchester City probable starting XI:

Dressing room; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Grandma, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Forest’s ineffective attack is increasingly worrying for Glasner, but the hosts may find encouragement in Manchester City’s leaky defence that has conceded 14 goals in their last seven matches across all competitions.

A tightly contested encounter could be on the agenda this weekend, but we predict the Citizens to possess the clinical edge necessary to secure the maximum points.