Manchester City look to go top of the Premier League as Pep Guardiola’s Citizens host Nottingham Forest at Etihad Stadium.
Victory would see Man City go top if Arsenal loses elsewhere, whilst Forest could return to the top-half of table with a win and depending on results elsewhere going in their favour.
Team News
Jack Grealish is set to return for Man City after he missed their last two matches with a knee injury.
Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) and Luke Mbete-Tabu (concussion) could also be in contention but Aymeric Laporte (knee) and Nathan Ake (groin) remain ruled out.
Forest have no fresh injury concerns to report after Sunday’s defeat against Tottenham as Orel Mangala (hamstring), Moussa Niakhate (thigh) and Omar Richards (leg) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Man City have lost just two of six previous Premier League meetings against Forest (W1, D3, L2).
- Forest won their only previous visit to the Etihad Stadium (W1) – beating City 3-0 in Third Round of 2008-09 FA Cup.
- All three Premier League clashes between City and Forest played at the Citizens’ home stadium have finished in draws – 2-2 in October 1992, 3-3 in October 1994 and 1-1 in December 1995.
- Five of Erling Haaland’s six league goals for Man City this season have been scored on his left foot.
- In the opening four matchweeks, no player has produced more blocks than Forest’s Joe Worrall (7).
Prediction
Having produced a sloppy first-half performance against Crystal Palace with awful defending, Man City did well to turn up their attacking intensity with clinical finishing which luckily paid off as Palace defensively caved in.
Forest meanwhile can be proud of their performance against Tottenham because they certainly gave Spurs a game on Sunday despite losing, which was only let down by poor end product and small defensive errors as their backtracking was excellent on top of saves by Dean Henderson.
This game though will be even more tricky given City’s incredible quality but if Forest can play like they did on Sunday, they might well be able to limit the margin of defeat as I imagine Pep Guardiola will have one eye on managing the fitness of his City squad given their hectic schedule.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Result: Manchester City 6-0 Nottingham Forest