Nottingham Forest vs Man City Preview: Team News & Prediction

Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!

Nottingham Forest have enjoyed an extremely impressive season as they battle for UEFA Champions League qualification alongside defending champions Manchester City.

Kick-off date/time: Saturday 8th March, 2025: UK – 12:30pm / US ET – 7:30am / US PT – 4:30am

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – USA Network

How to watch online: UK – TNT Sports app / US – Universo

Nottingham Forest Preview: A rocky patch

Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest scraped themselves through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last week after a 1-1 draw with relegation battling Ipswich Town at the City Ground was followed by a 5-4 penalty shootout victory.

Not winning that game inside 90 minutes does mean they have won just one game inside 90 or 120 minutes in their last seven matches across all competitions as the chasing pack, led by Manchester City, cut the gap on their top three position in the Premier League.

Man City Preview: Salvaging a season

Pep Guardiola is rebuilding his previously all-conquering Manchester City side on the fly at the moment and thing aren’t very convincing even when they win, as was the case as they had to come from behind to defeat Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round of the FA Cup last weekend.

The Championship strugglers took a first-half lead at the Etihad Stadium via Ukraine international centre-back Maksym Talovierov before a Nico O’Reilly brace as well as a Kevin De Bruyne strike allowed them to once again come from behind against a lower league side.

Nottingham Forest Team News: Nuno still coy

As ever, Nuno Espirito Santo was careful and kept his cards close to his chest in the pre-match press conference with regards to his injury issues ahead of the visit of Manchester City. He has said that they are 'still assessing players' with goalkeeper Carlos Miguel the only confirmed absentee.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina; Anderson, Dominguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood

Unavailable: Miguel (Injured)

Questionable:

Man City Team News: Defensive injuries

In his pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola confirmed that versatile Netherlands international defender Nathan Ake will be out for '10-11 weeks' due to surgery. City also remain without fellow defenders Manuel Akanji and John Stones as well as Ballon d'Or winner Rodri.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gonzalez; Savio, Marmoush, Doku; Haaland

Unavailable: Akanji (Injured), Ake (Injured), Stones (Injured), Rodri (Injured)

Questionable: Bobb (Fitness)

Nottingham Forest vs Man City Prediction

Nottingham Forest have built a squad, perhaps by accident, that is ideally suited to the counter-attacking style of football preferred by Nuno Espirito Santo. They have recently appeared to have been limited by sides allowing them to have more of the ball of late. That is not something that will be a concern here, even if Guardiola and City try to rebuild and adjust with a bit more pragmatism. That means Forest are likely to have an opportunity to score, especially against a fragile City defence, and this one is expected to be quite entertaining for the neutral at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest vs Man City Tip: Both teams to score