Nottingham Forest vs Man City Predictions & Tips - City Backed to Bounce Back in EPL Clash

The hosts have endured a difficult start to the campaign, while City will be determined to bounce back after consecutive league defeats.

I fancy Manchester City to claim the points at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest and Manchester City have met nine times since 2020. Manchester City won six matches while Nottingham Forest triumphed on just one occasion. Two games finished level. 

City won 2-1 on their last visit to the City Ground in December 2025.

Nottingham Forest return to home comforts after a frustrating 2-0 defeat at Brentford last Saturday.

A Nikola Milenkovic own goal gave Brentford a first-half advantage before Igor Thiago doubled the hosts’ lead late in the second half. 

Oliver Glasner's side again failed to make the most of their opportunities. Forest had 59% possession and registered 15 shots compared to Brentford's seven. 

The visitors also recorded the higher xG total (0.86-0.46), but managed just one shot on target.

The out-of-form Garibaldi's have picked up just one point from their last five EPL fixtures, while they have failed to score in four games at the City Ground. 

A miserable start to the season has seen the hosts secure only six points, while scoring only six goals in their first nine league matches. 

Forest come into this fixture currently 19th in the division. 

Recent results against Man City offer little encouragement. The Tricky Trees have won three of their last four encounters at the City ground but did claim a 1-0 win in January last year.

Manchester City head to Nottingham after a hard-fought 3-2 victory against RB Leipzig in Wednesday's Champions League contest.

Castello Lukeba's own goal gave City a first-half lead before Ridle Baku equalised shortly after the restart. Enzo Fernandez restored City's advantage, only for Antonio Nusa to level three minutes later. 

Erling Haaland eventually secured the points with a 78th-minute winner in a back-and-forth battle in Germany.

Final xG totals suggested the Citizens were good value for their victory in Leipzig. City recorded an xG of 2.20 compared to the hosts' 0.87.

Enzo Maresca's side also enjoyed more possession (65%-35%), but were outshot 14-12 in an entertaining contest at the Red Bull Arena.

Wednesday's success was a welcome response to successive Premier League defeats against Brighton (1-0) and Aston Villa (2-1). City also needed penalties to edge past the Seagulls in a Carabao Cup round of sixteen tie.

Before their surprise defeat at Villa, Maresca's men had secured impressive road wins against Crystal Palace (4-1), Man Utd (1-0) and Liverpool (3-0). 

Despite their recent domestic setbacks, City remain second in the Premier League with 21 points from nine matches.

Nottingham Forest: (3-4-2-1) Matz Sels; Jair Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo; Ola Aina, James McAtee, Xaver Schlager, Neco Williams; Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare; Liam Delap.

Forest head coach Oliver Glasner could make changes after last weekend's defeat at Brentford.

Ryan Yates, Daniel Munoz and Chris Wood are among those in contention to earn recalls.

Nicolas Dominguez faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines after suffering a setback in his recovery from a muscle injury.

Nicolo Savona remains unavailable, while Igor Jesus could return to the squad.

Dan Ndoye and Munoz have also returned to training following minor fitness issues.

Speaking to the BBC, Glasner stressed the importance of trust and respect as he looks to turn his sides’ fortunes around:

Manchester City: (4-2-3-1) Gianluigi Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov, Josko Gvardiol; Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez; Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku; Erling Haaland.

City head coach Enzo Maresca could make changes following Wednesday's 3-2 Champions League victory at RB Leipzig.

Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku are pushing for starting recalls after substitute appearances in Germany.

Phil Foden and Marc Guehi are also in contention after returning to the first XI for the midweek victory.

Antoine Semenyo remians the visitors' only confirmed injury absentee.

Speaking to UEFA, Maresca expressed his delight with their midweek win at RB Leipzig.