Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City get back to Premier League duties following the Christmas festivities with a visit to Nottingham Forest, with eyes firmly on extending a magnificent seven-match winning run.

Re-emerging from their holiday merriment and having braved the weighing scales, City will be raring to build from the momentum of a comfortable 3-0 home dispatching of a faltering West Ham side, courtesy of two goals from Erling Haaland either side of Tijjani Reijnders’ first Etihad Stadium goal.

The Blues were in fine form, submitting a more than forceful response to Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League tree, keeping the chase at as fine margins as can be going into the Christmas break.

But with mid-season fixtures coming thick and fast, Manchester City turn their attention to an away trip to a somewhat rejuvenated Nottingham Forest – who are still facing the anxieties of the relegation spaces one spot behind them.

Once again, City will be licking their lips at an opportunity to move top with a win assuming external results fall favourably. With rivals Arsenal the torchbearers holding a two-point lead, they face the visit of Brighton – who have proved relentlessly that they can always be tricky.

With each match as important as each other, an expanding sense of pressure and treachery mounts with each fixture as the Blues navigate the barmy Christmas period, and with the visitors entering this clash as pace-setters, the stage is still open for Dyche’s men to upset.

The tricky trees continue to ride the rollercoaster of unpredictability, as impressive 3-0 victories over Liverpool and Tottenham across the past month have amalgamated with disappointing performances at the mercy of Brighton and Everton in the same time frame. 

The Blues sit in the drivers’ seat for this one as the Premier League title race starts to come to a gallop, and here is all you need to know ahead of this match-up!

Match Details

Manchester City take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground at 12:30 (GMT) on Saturday 27th December.

Match Officials

Rob Jones will serve as the on-field official for this encounter, who last oversaw Manchester City in their 5-1 drubbing of Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in September.

Find the full list of officials here!

Team News

With Oscar Bobb still awaiting a return date on his freshly sustained hamstring injury which he picked up against Brentford in the Carabao Cup, there is much scope for head coach Pep Guardiola to turn to his trusty attack force – who have been more than fruitful in recent weeks.

The attacking sector will have to continue without the services of Jeremy Doku however, as his leg injury keeps him sidelined until at least after the turn of the year. The Belgian suffices the list of big names on the treatment table for City, with John Stones, Rodri, and Mateo Kovacic – who will all have to settle for the stands for the time being.

With the African Cup of Nations now also underway, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are unavailable for selection as they battle it out on the international stage.

Nottingham Forest’s predicament in a sense echoes the challenge of the Blues in the selection process, with important names away competing at AFCON, and others warming the treatment table.

Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are representing the colours of Cote D’Ivoire alongside this clash, with Ola Aina, Ryan Yates and Chris Wood all eyeing a return after New Year. Sean Dyche will be turning to understudies such as Igor Jesus to provide a threat.

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola has not engaged in a pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to face Nottingham Forest, but is expected to conduct a pre-recorded television interview ahead of the encounter.

Head to Head

Manchester City’s latest encounter with Nottingham Forest came at the most prestigious of stages in Wembley Stadium for last season’s FA Cup Semi-Final, with a lightning quick Rico Lewis strike followed by Josko Gvardiol’s headed effort.

As a rule of thumb, City have dominated in recent times, winning all but two of their meetings since the Reds’ reemergence to the top-flight in 2022. Those results came in the form of a 1-1 draw in February 2023, and a 1-0 defeat last March courtesy of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s heroics.

In that time, Manchester City’s defensive record in this fixture is more than commendable, having kept a clean sheet in each and every victory since Nottingham Forest’s latest promotion.

Turning back time, Forest enjoyed a remarkable FA Cup upset over the Citizens in January 2009, with a famous 3-0 thrashing over the Blues at Eastlands. Goals from Nathan Tyson, Robbie Earnshaw and Joe Garner left star-studded faces blushing on the City team sheet.

Statistics

Nottingham Forest have won their last four Premier League matches played between Christmas and New Year, all under Nuno Espírito Santo in 2023 and 2024. The most recent of those on 29 December last year was against Everton who were then managed by Sean Dyche.

Manchester City have not lost any of their last 10 Premier League matches played between Christmas and New Year (W8 D2) since losing 3-2 to Wolves on 27 December in the 2019-20 campaign.

Only Wolves (10) have failed to score in more different Premier League games than Nottingham Forest (9) this season. It is already more than the Tricky Trees failed to find the net in the whole of last season (8).

Manchester City have won each of their last three Premier League games by a 3-0 scoreline, last winning more consecutively without conceding in February 2021 (6). Meanwhile, no team in English top-flight history has ever won four in a row by 3+ goals to nil before.

Nottingham Forest won 29 points from their 12 home games between matchday 8 (19th October) and matchday 30 (3rd April) in the Premier League last season (W9 D2 L1), with only Liverpool earning more (32). They have won just 11 points from their subsequent 12 at home (W3 D2 L7), with only West Ham (9) and Wolves (8) gaining fewer among ever present sides.

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche is winless in all 16 of his Premier League matches against Pep Guardiola (D2 L14). Only Steve Bruce against Alex Ferguson (17) has managed more games against one manager without a single victory in the Premier League.

Erling Haaland has scored five goals in six Premier League appearances vs Nottingham Forest, although 60% of those came in his first game against them in August 2022 when he netted a hat-trick from four attempts. He has scored two goals from 10 shots in his last five games against Forest.

Erling Haaland has scored 19 goals in 17 Premier League games for City this season. The only player in the competition’s history to score 20 before the end of the year in a campaign is Haaland himself (21 in 2022-23).

How to Watch

Featuring as the weekend’s ‘early kick-off’, viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to view this Premier League game on TNT Sports 1.

Viewers in the United States will be able to watch on USA Network and the NBC Sports App, with a full list of global TV listings available here.

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on X, Facebook and Instagram throughout the matchday, with content also on cityxtra.co.uk!