Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City Premier League preview, Digi Mart USA News: Manchester City have the chance to end their two-game losing run in the Premier League when they visit Nottingham Forest this Saturday.
Successive defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion ended City’s perfect start to the Premier League season and allowed defending champions Arsenal to move ahead of them into first place. A win at the City Ground is essential if City are to avoid falling further behind their title rivals.
Wednesday’s 3–2 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League reflected the recent turmoil surrounding City, both on and off the field. Defensive disorganization has often been covered by an impressive attack led by Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland.
Forest are in a very different position, with the Oliver Glasner era yet to take off. Currently in the relegation zone after collecting just six points from their opening nine matches, they need a miracle to secure only their second victory of the season in the final match for both sides before the November international break.
A draw would also be widely celebrated.
Many of the Premier League’s traditional giants have discovered in recent years that defeats to Villa and Brighton can happen. Well-organized teams can beat anyone on their day, meaning City must put their recent defeats firmly behind them.
The trip to Forest should prove less awkward, especially given the poor form of their hosts. Forest have been particularly disappointing at the City Ground, picking up just one point on their own ground and failing to score in any of their four league matches.
City’s defensive problems, however, will offer encouragement to Forest. Manchester City have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their previous seven matches and have conceded two or more goals on four separate occasions in that span.
Despite 17 places separating the two sides, City appear unlikely to overwhelm Forest. Nevertheless, they should still claim an important victory.
The positive news for Glasner is that Igor Jesus has recently returned to team training following a calf injury and should be involved in some capacity at the weekend. Nicolò Savona has also returned to training after 10 months in the treatment room, but Glasner has all but confirmed he will miss the City match.
He should be available after the international break.
Unfortunately for Forest, Nicolás Domínguez has suffered a recurrence of a previous muscle injury and will miss up to eight weeks. Former City academy players James McAtee and Liam Delap should both start.
Nottingham Forest predicted lineup vs. Man City (3-4-2-1): Sels; Cunha, Milenković, Murillo; Muñoz, McAtee, Schlager, Williams; Ndoye, Gibbs-White; Delap.
Antoine Semenyo remains the only absentee in Maresca’s star-studded City squad, with his knee injury likely to keep him sidelined until December at the earliest. Maresca could make three changes from the side that beat Leipzig: Joško Gvardiol should replace Nico O’Reilly at left back, Rúben Dias will come in at center back, and Jérémy Doku appears very likely to replace Phil Foden.
Elliot Anderson faces an awkward return to Forest, the club he left over the summer after two standout years in the Midlands. Haaland has scored five times in eight appearances against Forest, including a hat trick in his first game against them, but he has failed to find the net in any of the last four meetings.
Man City predicted lineup vs. Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guéhi, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernández; Ndiaye, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.
Broadcast information: NBC, fuboTV, Peacock, Telemundo and Telemundo Deportes En Vivo in the United States; DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada and Fubo Sports Network Canada in Canada; and Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky Go and Sky Go Extra in the United Kingdom.
