Confirmed Match Officials: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United (Carabao Cup, 1st leg)

Manchester United will face Nottingham Forest at The City Ground on Wednesday evening in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash.

Erik ten Hag’s men travel to their third away game in a row after disappointment against Crystal Palace and Arsenal in the Premier League.

Returning to winning ways will be crucial for the team as they enter one of the busiest periods of the season. United remain the only English club still competing in four competitions.

Victory away against Forest would put United in a good position to get to their first domestic final since 2018. The second leg against Steve Cooper’s side comes on Wednesday 1 February.

The match officials for the opening clash between the two teams have been confirmed.

Match Referee

Michael Oliver will be taking charge of this first-leg semi-final clash. It will be his first time refereeing in the competition this season and he has officiated United games twice so far this season; against Liverpool at Old Trafford and against Manchester City at the Eithad Stadium.

Read More: “It can’t happen”: Erik ten Hag blames mistakes for defeat to Arsenal

Oliver was involved in the second-leg semi-final between Liverpool and Arsenal last season, where the game ended 0-0 and he brandished a first-half red card for Granit Xhaka.

Assistant Referees

Flanking the experienced referee will be the pairing of Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett, with the pair having 23 fixtures in the competition under their belt between them. They also have assisted over 500 Premier League matches.

Video Assistant Referees (VAR)

Peter Bankes will be in charge of proceedings at Stockley Park, with the competition exclusively using the video assistant referees after they were previously only used when a Premier League ground was hosting the fixture.

Read More: Manchester United cool interest in Serie A striker superstar

He will be assisted by Tim Wood, who will be of aid when decisions come to the attention of the monitors.

Fourth Official

Simon Hooper will be on the touchline alongside Ten Hag and Cooper throughout the match. The United manager has been cool, calm and collected in his technical areas thus far in his career at Old Trafford, but perhaps tempers could flair in his first real chance of getting silverware as United boss.