Top-four chasing Manchester United meet relegation-battling Nottingham Forest in a Bank Holiday Tuesday clash at Old Trafford.
Victory would see Man Utd stay fifth but move to within one point of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, whilst Forest can climb out of the relegation zone with a win.
Team News
Harry Maguire is a doubt for Man Utd after he missed their Carabao Cup victory against Burnley due to illness, following his early return to the club following England’s Quarter-Final exit at the World Cup.
Diogo Dalot (hamstring) and Raphael Varane (fitness) are doubts and face late fitness tests.
Axel Tuanzebe (unspecified), Lisandro Martinez, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood (both personal) remain absent.
Forest will be without first-choice goalkeeper, Dean Henderson due to the terms of his loan deal from Utd.
Wayne Hennessey (knock), Serge Aurier and Morgan Gibbs-White (both calf) all face late fitness tests, having missed Forest’s Carabao Cup victory at Blackburn Rovers.
Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring), Giulian Biancone (knee), Moussa Niakhate (thigh) and Omar Richards (leg) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have lost just one of ten previous Premier League meetings against Forest (W7, D2, L1).
- Forest have won one of their five previous Premier League visits to Old Trafford (W1, L4).
- This is Utd’s first clash against Forest in all competitions this century.
- Utd have kept clean sheets in each of their last three league games at Old Trafford (W2, D1).
- Forest have scored just one goal in seven league matches away from home this season (D2, L5), during which they conceded 18 goals.
Prediction
Having enjoyed a solid return with a clinical home win over Burnley despite initially riding their luck in a scrappy first half, Man Utd now have laid a marker for what they can do without Cristiano Ronaldo around to dampen the atmosphere.
Forest meanwhile were absolutely ruthless at Blackburn with a fierce attacking display amidst wasted first-half chances, but they will certainly need to change tactics because if they go all-out attack then I fear that Utd will just soak their threat up and clinically punish any defensive errors.
Henderson’s absence in goal though is already a large blow for Forest so I would like to see them try and play on the counter-attack, otherwise this could be a difficult contest for a team who are entering this game with two rare consecutive wins.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Nottingham Forest
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