Nottingham Forest’s amazing season got even better on Saturday when they beat Brighton on penalties to reach their first FA Cup semi-final in 34 years. But there’s no time to celebrate, as Nuno Espírito Santo’s side are back to Premier League action, trying to protect their six-point lead in the top four. Their next challenge is against Manchester United.
Forest return to the City Ground where they’re unbeaten in their last eight league matches. They’ll be confident, especially after winning the last two league games against United – that’s more than they managed in the previous 13 meetings. Now, they’re aiming for their first league double over United in the Premier League era, last done in the 1991/92 season under Brian Clough in the old First Division.
The international break gave Manchester United time to get some injured players back, but it also interrupted their good run. Before the break, they had two solid wins in a row by three-goal margins, including a 3-0 win over Leicester. That gave them the chance to get back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
United haven’t won two away league games in a row since February 2024, but with just one defeat in their last eight away games (four wins, three draws), they’ll believe they can do it here. They lost their last league visit to the City Ground in December 2023, but got revenge just two months later by winning there in the FA Cup. They’ve also had more rest and preparation time, as they didn’t play over the weekend.
Morgan Gibbs-White has set up a goal in each of his last two league games for Forest and has been involved in four goals in his last three league matches against United. On the other side, Bruno Fernandes has been in great form, with three goals and three assists in his last four Premier League games. He also assisted the winning goal in that FA Cup game at the City Ground last season.
One final stat: Forest have struggled when conceding first this season – they’ve only won one of the six league games in which they went behind.
