By Ian King
Pre-and-post International Break form
Both Nottingham Forest and Manchester United go into their meeting at The City Ground in decent form. United are four games unbeaten in the Premier League and through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while Forest have taken seven points from their nine and got through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1991 at Brighton last weekend.
H2H History
In January 1990, Alex Ferguson famously went to The City Ground in the FA Cup needing a win to stay in his job. He got it, and the rest of that story writes itself. Things aren’t quite that bad for Ruben Amorim. Not yet.
More recently, Forest have won two of their last three against Manchester United and beat them 3-2 at Old Trafford last September. But United did win on their last trip to The City Ground, in the FA Cup Fifth Round last February, and it is also worth remembering that prior to these last three games United had won the last eleven in a row, a record stretching back to 1995/96.
Key players
What an evening it would be for Anthony Elanga to show United what they gave away. They sold him to Forest for £15m in the summer of 2023. Since then, Elanga has made 65 Premier League appearances for Forest, scoring ten goals, and managed a hat-trick of assists in Forest’s recent 7-0 demolition of Brighton.
Whichever way you cut it, Manchester United continue to be heavily dependent on their captain, Bruno Fernandes. His hat-trick against Real Sociedad in the Europa League made it five goals in his last three games in all competitions, while he has three goals and three assists in his last five Premier League matches.
Team News
Manchester United’s early FA Cup elimination gave them a break, and Amorim can welcome back Luke Shaw, Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire, Altay Bayındır and Tom Heaton. Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu has now served his suspension, but Lisandro Martínez, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo, Ayden Heaven and Jonny Evans will all be absent.
Nuno Espírito Santo has a couple of significant doubts. Chris Wood ran into problems with his hip while on international duty with New Zealand, and is a major doubt for this fixture. And there was a fresh worry on Saturday, when Morgan Gibbs-White collided with a goalpost at Brighton. He’ll be in need of assessment before starting.
Prediction
This match does feel like something of a summit. Forest are where United may feel they should be, and with both teams in decent form this does have the vibe of a pretender to the throne staking their claim. But we should believe the evidence of our own eyes. Forest are A Good Football Team, and winning this fixture would be confirmation of what we already know. I’ll go 3-2, though in the full knowledge that anything could happen tonight.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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