Manchester City head to the City Ground on Saturday afternoon, looking to maintain their strong recent form against a formidable Nottingham Forest side.
Few, if any, would’ve predicted that Nottingham Forest would be above Manchester City in the Premier League table come this point of the season.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are in 3rd but only a point above Manchester City who are looking for back-to-back league wins for just the second time in 2025, following their 1-0 win at Spurs last time out.
Forest haven’t beaten City since returning to the Premier League in 2022. City have won four of five meetings, drawing the other, having beaten the Reds 3-0 in the reverse fixture back in December.
Going into this weekend, Forest have won just one of their last five in the league, drawing 0-0 at home to Arsenal in their last outing.
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Man City team news latest vs Nottingham Forest
Pep Guardiola has a few defensive injuries to deal with right now, with all of Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, and John Stones sidelined right now, and all for prolonged periods of time too.
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Akanji has undergone surgery on an injury sustained in February whilst Guardiola ruled out Ake for up to 11 weeks in his pre-Forest press conference on Friday afternoon. Stones faces another six to eight weeks out with a muscle injury.
Oscar Bobb is on the comeback trail though, and Rodri could feature before the end of the season having recently returned to individual training.
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Manchester City predicted lineup to face Nottingham Forest
Having rested the likes of Erling Haaland and Savinho for the 3-1 win over Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup last time out, Guardiola will no doubt return to a full strength side on Saturday, but perhaps with one or two changes compared to the side that beat Spurs.
Ilkay Gundogan could be nailed on to return to the XI alongside Nico in midfield after Gundogan was rested against Spurs, albeit playing Plymouth Argyle. Mateo Kovacic would be the one who makes way.
And against Spurs, the £53million signing Matheus Nunes failed to impress for Man City and he could be axed for the game against Forest, likely replaced by Rico Lewis.
Elsewhere, what Guardiola decides to do in attack remains a bit of a mystery with Haaland and Omar Marmoush bound to start, and possibly the same wingers as Spurs – Jeremy Doku and Savinho – although Jack Grealish and Phil Foden are strong options. Both played almost the full 90 against Plymouth, though.
Here’s how we think man City will line up against Forest on Saturday afternoon…
Ederson (GK)
Lewis
Khusanov
Dias
Gvardiol
Nico
Gundogan
Savinho
Marmoush
Doku
Haaland