Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City Prediction, preview, team news and lineups 27.04.2025

• Date and Time: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 17:30 GMT+1
• Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City Preview and Team News

Nottingham Forest Team News

Head coach Nuno Espírito Santo may be elevated to club legend if he achieves Champions League qualification, as his side sit 4th in the Premier League. 

The Portuguese coach set his squad up with a low block, made possible by key signings last summer. Morgan Gibbs-White has been pivotal in leading Nottingham Forest in counter-attacks and is expected to stay despite interest from other teams in the PL. 

Sunday. pic.twitter.com/mrW3La5ENb

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 24, 2025

Nottingham suffered two defeats in their last three matches, losing 2-1 to Aston Villa and 1-0 to Everton. The latter was at the end of the second half. Forest came back to winning ways last weekend, defeating Tottenham 2-1. 

The game was more than important for them. They could reach the FA Cup final while potentially returning to the Champions League after decades of absence.

Eric da Silva Moreira and Jota Silva will be sidelined due to injuries. Ola Aina is awaiting medical clearance.

Nottingham Forest Predicted Line-up vs Manchester City

Nottingham Forest Predicted line-up vs Manchester City(4-2-3-1): Sels; Ola Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Domínguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Manchester City Team News

While the hosts are on course for a historic run, this may have been Manchester City’s worst term since Pep Guardiola arrived at the helm of the club in 2016/2017. They spent large chunks of the season in fifth place, before eventually climbing to third in the Premier League. 

Manchester haven’t lost a game since early March, when they bowed down to, that’s right, Nottingham Forest (1-0). 

A dramatic late win in the @premierleague against Villa! 💪

Highlights ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/OK3tsPccoc

— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 22, 2025

The club signed striker Omar Marmoush in the Winter, as an attempt to remediate the lack of offensive flair up front. Kevin de Bruyne has announced his exit as he’s struggled with injuries, and Jack Grealish remains unrecognizable on the pitch. Other key injuries, such as Erling Haaland’s or Rodri’s, led management to invest in the window. 

Coach Pep Guardiola has, in some cases, resorted to using academy graduates, like James McAtee. Despite that, City have struggled to make an impact, with rumours hinting at a Summer exit for Pep.

🥰 pic.twitter.com/SoW5mThAhF

— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 22, 2025

Defeating Nottingham Forest to eventually claim an FA Cup title is key for Guardiola to avoid a trophyless season. Regardless of the struggles, Manchester will remain in the Champions League, which could convince Guardiola to stay, even after a catastrophic season.

Ederson, Erling Haaland, John Stones, Nathan Aké, and Rodri are out with injuries.

Manchester City Predicted line-up vs Nottingham Forest

Manchester City Predicted line-up vs Nottingham Forest (4-1-4-1): Ortega; O’Reilly, Gvardiola, Dias, Nunes; Kovačić; Marmoush, Gündogan, Silva, McAtee; De Bruyne.

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City Prediction

• Prediction: Nottingham Forest to win
• Odds: 4.9 (22Bet)
• Score Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-1 

Forest’s philosophy under Manchester represents everything Guardiola struggles to coach against. City may be on a good run, but their last defeat came against this team just a few months ago.

The hosts’ deep block has been challenging to most sides in the Premier League, even more so to expansive clubs who practice an attacking-oriented brand of football. 

With the absences of John Stones and Nathan Aké, Guardiola will be forced to adapt his backline, which may give Nottingham Forest an advantage.

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City Betting Tip

• Pick: Chris Wood to score
• Odds: 3.25 (22Bet)

There are few certainties in football, but one of them is that Wood will almost always score for Nottingham. The Premier League veteran has impressed in previous spells, but rose to one of the league’s most prolific strikers this term. 

Few expected it at the beginning of the season, but Nunes found a way to ensure he will always get service while counter-attacking. As of now, he’s already netted 19 balls and could add another one to his tally, raising the bar to twenty goals.

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