Kick-off: 1630, 16/04/2023
Stadium: City Ground
TV: Sky Sports
Manchester United have had Nottingham Forest’s measure three times already this season in the Premier League and the EFL Cup semi-finals.
The Red Devils are 8-0 up on aggregate over those meetings and are tipped to confirm their superiority once again at the City Ground.
We’re taking 6/4 for the visitors to lead at half-time and full-time for our first Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd prediction.
Reds reeling after poor run of results
Forest have enjoyed some fine results on home turf, memorably beating Liverpool here and drawing with Manchester City.
However, there have been worrying signs of Steve Cooper’s side running out of steam during a nine-match winless run which has yielded just three points.
Back-to-back defeats at Leeds and Aston Villa have left them in the relegation zone and facing a tricky run-in.
Cooper was given public backing by owner Evangelos Marinakis last week, but it came with a stark warning that performances and results “must improve immediately”.
The manager remains hopeful of getting out of trouble, stating: “We have to believe that we can turn it around, because if we stop that, then we have no chance.
“We know the next two or three games are really difficult, like every game is, but if we stop believing and stop thinking we can achieve, then we definitely won’t have a chance.
“So, as tough as it is sometimes after losing a game, when you start preparing again, you have to go with confidence as best you can to try and get results.”
Those words were not exactly convincing, however, and individual errors are compounding a general lack of quality.
Looking at the Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd odds, we’re going with 5/2 for an away win by any one-goal margin.
Last Forest line-up: Navas, Worrall, Niakhate, Felipe, Shelvey, Williams, Toffolo, Kouyate, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Danilo.
Red Devils strong against lower clubs
United have been very comfortable in their past encounters with Forest, prevailing 3-0 twice and 2-0 in the most recent meeting.
However, Erik ten Hag has to contend with some mounting injury problems ahead of this contest.
Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho were sidelined for Thursday’s 2-2 Europa League draw with Sevilla at Old Trafford.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane both picked up knocks during that game, but the United boss believes he has the strength in depth to cope.
“I have an idea what we can play on Sunday,” Ten Hag said. “We need to see how we came out of the game. We have a plan and then we will bring a good team on pitch.”
The Red Devils can’t afford to be distracted by next week’s second leg in Spain, as they battle it out with Newcastle and Tottenham for a top-four finish.
Back-to-back home wins over Brentford and Everton put them back on track after a sticky spell which featured poor away performances at Liverpool and Newcastle.
United have done well when visiting teams in the bottom half of the table, though, posting wins at Southampton, Leicester, Everton, Wolves and Leeds.
Bruno Fernandes is suspended for the trip to Seville, so should be raring to go here and 7/1 for him to open the scoring completes our Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd betting tips.
Last United line-up: De Gea, Martinez, Malacia, Varane, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Sabitzer, Casemiro, Antony, Sancho, Martial.
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