Latest Nottingham Forest news as Sean Dyche's Reds prepare to face Manchester United at the City Ground
05:00, 31 Oct 2025
Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche
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Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche(Image: Getty)
Sean Dyche will hope a full week on the training pitch with his Nottingham Forest squad can pay dividends this weekend.
The new Reds head coach had a busy first week in the job, with two games in quick succession. A Europa League triumph over Porto last Thursday was followed by a 2-0 Premier League defeat away to Bournemouth on Sunday.
After that loss on the south coast, Dyche pledged there would be no respite for Forest as they try to turn around their fortunes. With no midweek fixture, he has had a full week on the training ground to get his ideas across.
Next up is a visit from Manchester United on Saturday (3pm kick-off). The 18th-placed Reds are without a victory in the league since the opening day of the season, when Nuno Espirito Santo was still in charge.
Dyche has some big decisions to make when it comes to picking his starting XI at the City Ground. He made just one change against the Cherries, but the quick turnaround between games left the visitors looking lacklustre on that occasion.
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This time around, they shouldn’t have that issue. Forest should be well rested and revitalised for the clash with United.
But should Dyche mix things up or should he stick with a similar line-up to last weekend? The players who started against Bournemouth might have a point to prove after a poor first half at the Vitality Stadium.
It could be Dyche opts to go with the same back four this time around. Full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko is sidelined so fellow summer signing Nicolo Savona could be handed a second successive start.
In the centre of the pitch, Douglas Luiz and Elliot Anderson retained their places last weekend. Dyche could turn to Ibrahim Sangare, Ryan Yates or Nicolas Dominguez if he wanted to freshen things up this time around. He could also opt to try a different formation and go with three in midfield.
Perhaps the new man’s biggest dilemma is with regards to the top end of the pitch. Scoring goals has been an issue for Forest for a while and it is something Dyche knows he needs to find a solution for.
Injuries limit his options somewhat for Saturday’s clash. He is without striker Chris Wood and winger Dilane Bakwa.
With Wood sidelined, Igor Jesus could keep his spot up front. However, Taiwo Awoniyi caused Bournemouth a few problems when he came on and will no doubt be pushing for a start.
James McAtee and Omari Hutchinson have found regular game time hard to come by since their summer moves. Both will hope to get more minutes under Dyche, but whether that happens this weekend remains to be seen.
Predicted Forest XI: Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Luiz, Anderson; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus.
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