Analysing Nottingham Forest ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash | OneFootball

An in-depth look at our opponents this weekend…

Men's Team

How can I watch Nottingham Forest v City on TV?

We travel to Nottingham Forest’s City Ground for a 12:30 (UK) kick-off on Saturday 27 December.

City go into the game having won our last seven in a row across all competitions and are now just two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after 17 games.

Here we take a look at what to expect from Sean Dyche’s side…

Recent form

Forest are 17th in the league, with 18 points from their 17 outings so far.

As that position would suggest, Forest have not been consistent but they have picked up some key wins against sides around them as well as some of the league’s biggest names.

Their five victories so far have come against Brentford, Leeds, Liverpool, Wolves and Spurs.

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Preferred formation

Forest tend to favour a 4-2-3-1 formation, as they did during last season’s run to European qualification.

Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic remain the first choices at centre-back, with the former a more progressive passer and the latter often the last man.

Elliot Anderson is a key man in the centre of midfield, operating in a box-to-box role behind Morgan Gibbs-White – who is tasked with much of the creativity.

Igor Jesus has largely been the first choice up top, while the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Omar Hutchinson and Dan Ndoye feature on the wings.

Manager

Dyche is a Premier League veteran now, having managed 342 games in the top-flight with Burnley, Everton and now his boyhood club Forest.

The 54-year-old only arrived at the City Ground in October after a rocky start to the season with both Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou moving on.

In total in the Premier League, he’s won 97 of his 342 games while he’s overseen a relatively strong start to life at Forest with four wins in his first nine league matches.

However, he’s never beaten Pep Guardiola in 16 Premier League meetings.

Head-to-head record

The two sides have played each other 12 times in the Premier League era, with City winning five times and Forest victorious on three occasions.

In those matches, we’ve scored 22 times while Forest have netted 12 goals.

The City Ground itself is not a favoured ground of ours, with City winning just two of the six trips.

How they score their goals

Only Wolves have scored fewer than Forest’s 17 goals so far.

However, their xG creation of 20.7 is the 12th best in the division so they are significantly underperforming in front of goal.

Having found the net three times in the opening 15 minutes, they are one of the quicker starters in the league – with only five teams scoring more in that period.

With 10 different goalscorers, they have shared out the goals more than most in the division.

Their most obvious tactic is to send crosses into the box as much as possible, with 309 in open play. That’s the most in the Premier League and almost double City’s 159.

Hudson-Odoi and Gibbs-White are their top scorers with three each, with Ibrahim Sangare and Omari Hutchinson are the only players to have assisted more than once.

How they defend

Forest’s 26 goals conceded is the 13th lowest total in the Premier League. 19 of those have come from inside the box, but that’s the ninth best in the division.

14 of the goals have come from set pieces, the second worst in the Premier League suggesting they’re vulnerable from corners and free kicks.

Only letting in two in the opening 15 minutes furthers the belief they start relatively well, but 10 conceded in the last 15 minutes means they may run of steam as the end of the game nears.

Goalkeeper Matz Sels played all of the first 15 games before losing his place to Brazilian John Victor in the last two games.

City v Brighton tickets on general sale

We welcome an entertaining Brighton side to the Etihad at 19:30 (UK) on Wednesday 7 January.

And with tickets now on general sale, you could be there to see it!

Fans can now claim three tickets each, with adults from £30 and concessions as low as £15.

Or make it a night to remember with hospitality packages starting from just £180 per person and a wide range of experiences available to suit your budget.

Kick off the new year in style!