FA Cup: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United Live
Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
The City Ground on Wednesday at 7:45pm will give us Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United as both teams look to recover from their recent losses in the Premier League. Manchester United, who were runners-up in the FA Cup last season, will be aiming to avenge their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in December.
A week after securing a crucial 2-0 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League, Nottingham Forest suffered a 4-2 loss to Aston Villa in their recent away match. Despite goals from Moussa Niakhate and Morgan Gibbs-White, Forest couldn’t complete a comeback after Villa took an early three-goal lead. Leon Bailey extended Villa’s lead, leading to Forest’s 14th league defeat of the season and their fourth loss since the start of the year.
The team is now just four points above the relegation zone and dropped to 17th in the Premier League standings due to Everton’s reduced points deduction. Forest now face a crucial FA Cup match against Manchester United before hosting league leaders Liverpool. They have reached the fifth round after needing replays to defeat Blackpool and Bristol City in the previous rounds.
Man United went into their recent match against Fulham with high spirits, having won four consecutive games in February and with Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquiring a 27.7% stake in the club. Despite Ratcliffe’s pledge to help the team surpass Manchester City and Liverpool, Erik ten Hag’s squad faced a setback as they lost 2-1 to Fulham at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag commended his team’s resilience but noted their lack of cutting edge in attack. Man United currently sit in sixth place, trailing Aston Villa by eight points with 12 games left, including a tough match against Man City. Their best chance for a trophy this season lies in the FA Cup, a competition they have won 12 times but not since 2016.
Head-to-head
Nottingham Forest secured a 2-1 victory at home against the Red Devils in late December, ending Manchester United’s ten-game winning streak against them.
Prediction
While Nottingham Forest is focused on staying in the Premier League, a win against Manchester United on Wednesday could boost their confidence and lead to a better performance in the upcoming matches. The match at the City Ground is expected to be competitive, especially since replays have been eliminated, but if Manchester United can improve their offensive play, they have a good chance of advancing to the quarter-finals.
