After losing two points against Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw, leaders Arsenal scored in the dying seconds to get the three points against United on Sunday.
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Manchester United will be keen to bounce back from weekend disappointment when they travel to City Ground for the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night. The winner of this semifinal will play Newcastle United or Southampton in the Wembley final. Both teams took contrasting paths to reach this stage of the competition. The Red Devils comfortably got past Charlton Athletic, while Nottingham prevailed over Wolverhampton Wanderers in a penalty shootout in the last round.
Even though Manchester United will be labelled as the favourites in this tie, Nottingham Forest will not be taken lightly by Erik ten Hag. Their recent resurgence cannot be ignored and their form at City Ground is quite good. Nottingham are currently placed 13th in the Premier League table and have 21 points from 20 games. They are unbeaten in their last four league matches and came from behind to get a point against Bournemouth in their last game.
However, late goals have been the problem for Manchester United. Erik ten Hag’s side conceded a late goal for the second successive game at the weekend. After losing two points against Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw, leaders Arsenal scored in the dying seconds to get the three points against United on Sunday. However, those two slip ups have not cost United heavily though. Ten Hag’s side currently have 39 points from 20 games to be placed fourth in the standings.
Read More – Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United: EFL Cup Records, Stats, Goals, Head to Head & everything to know
There are some important players who will miss this contest for both sides. Nottingham Forest goalkeeper and Manchester United loanee Dean Henderson is injured, however, the goalkeeper would not have been able to play against his parent club anyway. Cheikhou Kouyate, Omar Richards, Taiwo Awoniyi, Moussa Niakhate and Giulian Biancone will also be absent for them due to injuries. It will be interesting to see if Ryan Yates will be fit for this match.
Meanwhile, Manchester United will receive a major boost with the return of Brazilian holding midfielder Casemiro. He was suspended for the defeat against Arsenal and the Red Devils missed him dearly on Sunday at Emirates Stadium. His return will send Scott McTominay to the bench. On injury front, Anthony Martial and Diogo Dalot are set to miss this game, while Donny van de Beek and Axel Tuanzebe will join them on the sidelines. It is unclear whether Jadon Sancho will be involved in this contest.
Nottingham Forest possible line-up: Hennessey, Aurier, Worrall, Boly, Lodi, Mangala, Danilo, Freuler, Scarpa, Lingard, Johnson
Manchester United possible line-up: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Shaw, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho, Weghorst
Nottingham Forest
| Opponents | Score |
| Bournemouth | 1-1 |
| Leicester | 2-0 (W) |
| Wolves | 2-1 (W) |
| Blackpool | 4-1 (L) |
| Southampton | 0-1 (W) |
Manchester United
| Opponents | Score |
| Arsenal | 3-2 (L) |
| Crystal Palace | 1-1 |
| Manchester City | 2-1 (W) |
| Charlton | 3-0 (W) |
| Everton | 3-1 (W) |
| Last 5 matches (all competitions) | Results |
| Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest | 3-0 |
| Nottingham Forest lose to Manchester United | 1-8 |
| Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest | 3-0 |
| Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest | 2-1 |
| Nottingham Forest lose to Manchester United | 0-4 |
The EFL Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United will take place at City Ground on Thursday at 1:30 am IST.
The EFL Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United can be seen on Sky Sports Football, BBC Radio 5 Live, Sky Ultra HD, TalkSport Radio UK, Sky Sports Main Event, SKY GO Extra in the United Kingdom.
