Nottingham Forest face Manchester City in a blockbuster tie to conclude the semi-finals stage of the 2024-25 FA Cup.
Victory will see Forest achieve a fourth FA Cup Final appearance and first since 1991, whilst Man City look to reach the showpiece event for a third consecutive season.
Team News
Forest will be without Neco Williams and Ryan Yates as the pair serve one-match bans, having picked up their second bookings of this season’s competition in the Tricky Trees’ Quarter-Final victory at Brighton.
Ola Aina (calf) could return if pass late fitness checks but Eric da Silva Moreira and Jota Silva are doubts, after the pair missed Forest’s league win at Tottenham due to knocks.
Man City will likely be without Oscar Bobb after he reportedly suffered a hamstring injury as he continued his steady recovery, which saw him make two league appearances earlier this month in wins over Leicester and Crystal Palace.
Ederson (muscle) is a doubt but Nathan Ake (foot), Erling Haaland (ankle), John Stones (thigh) and Rodri (knee) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Forest meet Man City at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday 27 April at 4:30pm BST, live on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Forest have won four of their five previous FA Cup ties against Man City (W4, L1).
- Man City lost each of their two previous FA Cup ties against Forest when played as the ‘away’ team.
- This is the first FA Cup tie between Forest and Man City to be played on neutral territory.
- Each of Forest’s last three ties went to penalties (D3), in which Elliot Anderson scored in each of the shootouts.
- Nico O’Reilly has produced two goals and assists apiece across City’s last two FA Cup ties.
Prediction
With a small psychological advantage from having won their recent clash against City in a scrappy top-flight battle in early March, Forest can come into this semi-final confident of getting a result especially given their strong FA Cup record over the Cityzens if play as clinically as they did at Tottenham.
Man City meanwhile were absolutely made to work until the final whistle for their victory over Villa which would of definitely taken a lot out of them physically, even in spite of their second-half dominance as they often lacked a clinical final touch but were lucky not to concede mere seconds in after a sluggish start defensively.
Nevertheless, I expect a fiercely competitive battle as this is Forest’s best chance at a cup title in decades but City are experienced title winners in recent years, which should make for a cracker if Forest can play the game and not the occasion and I fancy them to spring a surprise here.
Prediction: Forest 2-1 Man City
Result: Forest 0-2 Man City