City's woes continued on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to league leaders Liverpool, who look unstoppable at the moment. Meanwhile, Forest regained some form with a narrow 1-0 win over Ipswich Town. After the Anfield defeat, Pep Guardiola responded defiantly to taunts from the Liverpool fans, raising six fingers as a reminder of the number of league titles he’s won, despite his team's ongoing struggles.
Unfortunately for City, that number six also reflects their recent form, as they've lost six of their last seven matches. Sunday's game saw Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah find the net on either side of halftime, handing Liverpool a well-earned victory. Despite some wasteful finishing by Liverpool, City were outplayed and now trail the Reds by 11 points in the league standings.
To make matters worse, the reigning champions have slipped out of the top four. Historically, no team has ever overcome such a large gap after 13 games to win the title, making City's pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship seem nearly impossible.
Guardiola's men have also lost four consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since 2008, including a humbling home defeat to Tottenham. A loss on Wednesday would mark their first back-to-back home defeats in the league since May 2021.
On the other hand, Nottingham Forest have managed to stabilize after consecutive losses to Arsenal and Newcastle. Their 1-0 victory over Ipswich came courtesy of a Chris Wood penalty, which brought him level with Bryan Roy's record of 24 Premier League goals for Forest. Wood is now just one goal shy of breaking that record and trails City's Erling Haaland by only three goals in the Golden Boot race.
Forest, sitting in sixth place and just one point behind City, have been strong on the road this season. Their 11 away points are bettered only by Liverpool and Chelsea. However, they haven’t beaten City since the 2008-09 FA Cup, with the Manchester side winning three and drawing one of their encounters since Forest’s return to the top flight in 2022. City also secured two comfortable 2-0 wins against Forest in the 2023-24 campaign.
The stage is set for an intriguing clash as Forest looks to capitalize on City’s slump, while the champions hope to spark a turnaround in their season.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
One silver lining for Manchester City in Sunday’s defeat was the return of Jeremy Doku from a thigh injury. However, the hosts are still without key players, including Rodri (ACL), Oscar Bobb (leg), Mateo Kovacic (unspecified), and John Stones (foot).Doku brought some much-needed energy to City’s lackluster attack at Anfield and is likely to be in Guardiola's plans for changes this week. Guardiola’s late substitutions bringing on Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne in the 79th minute raised eyebrows, but he has since hinted at experimenting with Grealish in a central role to address the team’s creative struggles.
Meanwhile, Ederson is expected to reclaim the starting goalkeeper spot from Stefan Ortega after the surprise switch last weekend.
Nottingham Forest have fewer injury worries. Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga overcame recent fitness concerns to feature against Ipswich, leaving Danilo (ankle) and Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) as the team’s only absentees.
Elanga, still recovering from a shoulder issue sustained against Arsenal, made a brief substitute appearance last weekend. His replacement, Jota Silva, made an impact by winning the penalty that Chris Wood converted to secure the victory. Silva’s performance could earn him a spot in the starting lineup at the Etihad. On the other hand, Neco Williams, who started against Ipswich, might step aside for regular left-back Alex Moreno.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Manchester City possible starting lineup:Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; B. Silva, Gundogan; Savinho, Grealish, Doku; Haaland
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Yates, Dominguez; J. Silva, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
EXPERT PREDICTION
Manchester City 2-1 Nottingham Forest
That said, with Guardiola likely to shake things up by introducing creative playmakers and tricky wingers into the attack, the champions might just manage to break their losing streak. But if they do, it’ll likely be by the slimmest of margins.
