Premier League 2022-23: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

The high-flying Cityzens travel to the City Ground as they face The Tricky Trees on Matchday 24.

Nottingham Forest under Steve Cooper has been a story to talk about. From dwindling in the relegation zone early on in the season, they have made it up to 14th in the table after a decent run of form since the turn of the year. Conjuring 24 points from 22 matches, they are now six points ahead of 18th-place Everton. Although their recent trip to Craven Cottage went against their liking after a 2-0 defeat to Fulham, Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in seven on home soil (W4, D3), their best home unbeaten run in the top-flight since a 20-game stretch between February 1995 and January 1996.

Pep Guardiola and his City side on the other hand have thrown the title challenge wide open after their successful trip to North London. Haaland, Grealish and De Bruyne all stepped up to hand the Cityzens a famous 3-1 away victory away at league leaders Arsenal who have dropped down to 2nd place in goal difference behind the Cityzens. Guardiola will be eager to feast on his side’s impressive performance as they have won their last nine Premier League games against newly promoted sides since a 2-1 home defeat to Leeds United in April 2021.

Kick-off:

Saturday, 18-02-2023, 08:30 pm (IST)

Saturday, 18-02-2023, 03:00 pm (GMT)

Nottingham Forest form (all competition): L-W-L-L-D

Manchester City form (all competition): W-W-L-W-W

Player to watch

Nottingham Forest

Brennan Johnson

Blessed with blistering pace, the 20-year-old is key to the counter-attacking style of play Cooper favours. Operating mostly down the right wing or as an orthodox number 9, he has that acute sense of game reading which helps the attacking line. He has scored 7 goals and is the highest goal scorer for Nottingham Forest this season.

Manchester City

Jack Grealish

Primarily a midfielder, he is known for his silky skills on the ball, Grealish can play as a winger, a playmaker, or just behind the striker as a No. 10. His celebration after scoring against Arsenal in their most recent fixture shows how he hungry he is as an individual to prove himself on the grandest stage. It is very likely that he will be making the starting XI ahead of Foden in this fixture too.

Match facts

• This is the first time Nottingham Forest are hosting Manchester City in a league match since October 2001 (1-1 in the second tier), and the first time in a Premier League match since September 1995 (3-0 win).
• Manchester City thrashed them in the reverse fixture by 6-0, last completing a top-flight double over them in 1990-1991.
• Nottingham Forest have lost their last seven Premier League games against reigning champions by an aggregate score of 29-3. Their last win against the reigning champions was in December 1994 away at Manchester United (2-1).

Injury and team news

Cheikhou Kouyate will be unavailable for The Reds due to a thigh injury and his return date is unknown. Jesse Lingard has also remained on the sidelines for most of the season with his knee injury. Omar Richards is also a big miss for Steve Cooper as he has to cope up with his absence by playing Mckenna in the heart of the defence. Ryan Yates missed out due to illness against Fulham and it is very likely that he will be making a comeback to the team. Willy Boly also struggled against Fulham due to a thigh injury and it is very unlikely that Cooper will be risking him at such a crucial point of the season.

There are not many injury concerns as far as Pep Guardiola is concerned with the only notable absentee being John Stones. Haaland has shrugged off the kick that he suffered against Aston Villa and proved his worth yet again by scoring against Arsenal. The likes of De Bruyne and Gundogan are all performing admirably which is a good sign of things to come for the Sky Blues.

Head-to-Head stats

Matches: 101

Nottingham Forest: 33

Draws: 27

Manchester City: 41

Predicted lineup

Nottingham Forest predicted lineup (4-2-3-1):

Keylor Navas; Aurier, Felipe, Mckenna, Renan Lodi; Freuler, Mangala; Brennan Johnson, Gibbs-White, Scarpa; C. Wood

Manchester City predicted line-up (4-1-4-1):

Ederson; Kyle Walker, R. Dias, N. Ake, Rico Lewis; Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland

Prediction

Manchester City have all the talent in the world to come away with a positive result in this fixture. Steve Cooper’s men might have been undefeated at home for a fair amount of time now but it will require more than just a divine performance to beat the soaring Eagles. We are predicting it to be a stroll in the park for The Cityzens.

Prediction:  Nottingham Forest 0-3 Manchester City

Telecast Details

India- Star Sports Select 1, Star Sports Select 2.

USA- NBC Network Television.

UK- BT Sport.

Nigeria- watchsportonline.