With a seven-point gap to Newcastle United in sixth place, Nottingham Forest should be aiming to cement itself in the Champions League spots before the season ends. And next up, it faces Manchester United.
Liverpool is too far ahead now for anyone — Nottingham Forest included — to catch. But finishing in the top four or five places would be a huge achievement for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men. As it stands, they sit third and are only four points behind Arsenal.
Manchester United, in contrast, is 13th in the table, three points ahead of Spurs, Everton and West Ham. Ruben Amorim will have enjoyed the international break in as much as it was a break from the relentless scrutiny on where his side finds itself.
At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest will be a big favorite to beat Manchester United. In the UK, the game will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 and can be streamed live on the channel’s app. In the US, it will be shown and streamed live on Peacock.
Injury-wise, talismanic striker Chris Wood missed out on Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup quarter-final win at Brighton after he picked up a hip injury on international duty. He’s a doubt for this game too, and former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi could start in his place.
Manchester United will be missing Ayden Heaven, Amad Diallo, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo. Bruno Fernandes has been in good form lately and will be vital to Amorim’s chances of a victory.
The Manchester United boss quickly moved to rubbish claims that Fernandes could be heading for Real Madrid during his pre-match media duties. The Portugal international is captain at Old Trafford.
“That is the challenge,” Amorim said when asked if Manchester United could match Fernandes’ ambitions. “I want Bruno here because like I said, maybe in the lowest moments of our season, we want to win the Premier League again.
“So we want the best players to continue with us. He’s 29 [30], I think, but he’s still so young because he plays 50, 55 games every season. Between assists and goals, he’s there for 30 [of them], at least. So he’s the type of player that we want here, he’s not going anywhere.”
