Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

While the visitors are looking to secure back-to-back away victories within the space of three days, the hosts will endeavour to extend their unbeaten top-flight home run to eight matches.

Match preview

For the first time since early November, Man City are sitting pretty at the Premier League summit, albeit on goal difference, after securing a 3-1 victory away against title rivals and former leaders Arsenal on Wednesday night.

The Citizens surprisingly had just 36% possession at the Emirates Stadium, the lowest in a league game for a team managed by Pep Guardiola in his coaching career, but they capitalised on defensive errors from the Gunners to ensure that the points headed back to the blue side of Manchester.

The contest was all square going into the final 20 minutes after Bukayo Saka's first-half penalty kick cancelled out a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne opener, but Jack Grealish restored City's lead with a deflected strike before Erling Braut Haaland fired home eight minutes from time to seal the victory and equal a Man City record set by Sergio Aguero in the process.

Guardiola and co are aware that Arsenal still have a game in hand, but the momentum in this intriguing title race now appears to be with City as they have picked up four wins in their last five league fixtures, while the Gunners have dropped 10 points in their last six top-flight matches.

The reigning champions now shift their focus to Saturday's encounter against Forest, the second of five successive away games across all competitions, and they will have fond memories of their last meeting with the Tricky Trees as they secured an emphatic 6-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium at the end of August, their biggest win of the season in all tournaments to date.

Kevin Keegan was in charge the last time that the Citizens paid a visit to the City Ground back in October 2001 when both clubs were in the second tier, with Shaun Goater on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw, while their previous two visits both ended 3-1 in City's favour.

After accumulating 11 points during an impressive five-game unbeaten league run, Nottingham Forest suffered their first top-flight defeat of 2023 at the hands of European-chasing Fulham who secured a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage last weekend.

Strikes either side of half time from Willian and Manor Solomon condemned the Tricky Trees to their 10th league loss of the campaign, but they still hold a six-point buffer over 18th-placed Everton, who they will face in just over two weeks' time.

Steve Cooper's side will welcome a return to the City Ground where they have picked up 75% of their Premier League points so far this season, winning five and drawing three of their 11 home matches.

A 3-2 defeat to Fulham on September 16 was the last time that Forest lost in the league on home soil, and they have since put together a seven-game unbeaten run in front of their own fans, picking up points against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea in the process.

Forest now face the daunting task of attempting to stop Man City in their tracks, but that could prove challenging as they have lost their last seven matches against the reigning Premier League champions by an aggregate score of 29-3.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

D

W

W

D

W

L

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

W

L

Manchester City Premier League form:

L

W

W

L

W

W

Manchester City form (all competitions):

W

W

W

L

W

W

Team News

Nottingham Forest lost centre-back pairing Scott McKenna and Willy Boly within the first seven minutes in the defeat against Fulham after both picked up hamstring injuries, and the defensive duo join a packed treatment room including Dean Henderson, Moussa Niakhate, Taiwo Awoniyi, Giulian Biancone, Omar Richards and Cheikhou Kouyate.

Jesse Lingard has missed the last three games with a knee problem and he remains doubtful for this weekend, while Ryan Yates, who has not featured in the last four matches due to illness, could be in a position to return against Man City.

In the absence of McKenna and Boly, January signing Felipe is set to make his full debut at centre-back alongside captain Joe Worrall, while there could also be a first start for Jonjo Shelvey in midfield after impressing as a substitute against Fulham.

Chris Wood is yet to make an impact since arriving on loan from Newcastle United, but the New Zealander may continue in attack alongside Morgan Gibbs-White and in-form forward Brennan Johnson, the latter of whom has contributed to five goals in his last five league games (three goals and two assists).

As for Man City, their only injury concern is with defender John Stones, who is not expected to feature this month as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Guardiola decided to use Bernardo Silva as a makeshift left-back against Arsenal when City were out of possession and a similar tactic could be implemented on Saturday, while Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake could all find their places in defence under threat from Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte.

Haaland, who scored one of his four Premier League hat-tricks against Forest earlier this season, is expected to continue in attack along with Grealish and Riyad Mahrez, although Julian Alvarez is also an option after he started and scored a brace in that same reverse fixture against Forest.

Rodri, De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan are all set to operate in centre-midfield, while Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips will be pushing for a start after coming off the bench against Arsenal last time out.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Navas; Aurier, Worrall, Felipe, Lodi; Danilo, Freuler, Shelvey; Gibbs-White; Johnson, Wood

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Laporte; Rodri, Bernardo; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland

We say: Nottingham Forest 1-4 Manchester City

Taking into account Forest's defensive injury concerns, City's attacking qualities and the one-sided affair that transpired the last time that these two teams met, the visitors should be regarded as firm favourite to claim maximum points this weekend.

Forest have fared much better on home soil so far this season, but we expect Haaland and co to have more joy in front of goal to help the Citizens consolidate their place at the summit.

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