Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest: Form Guide

Premier League football is back, and so Manchester United are back.

Old Trafford welcomes Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest one day after Boxing Day, with the last time the two sides met being in United’s treble-winning season. The Reds ran out 8-1 winners away from home with Ole Gunnar Solskjær scoring four goals in a thirteen-minute substitute appearance.

Manchester United will unfortunately not be winning that treble this year, and are unlikely to replicate the famous 8-1 win. But with their form pre-World Cup, they will feel confident about collecting the three points heading into this one.

Manchester United – W, W, W, L, W

Erik ten Hag’s United won three of their four games prior to the World Cup, only slipping up away at Aston Villa, and continued this good form with a win & strong display in the EFL Cup against Vincent Kompany’s new-look Burnley on Wednesday night.

Things are constantly improving at United and the players look to be acclimatizing to Ten Hag’s system more and more every game. United’s squad members who went to Qatar all had strong tournaments and will come back riding a wave of confidence. Those who didn’t will have had a month of more focused training from the Dutchman, most notably Anthony Martial.

In another game where they will expect to dominate possession, this will be a good test of how much more progress has been made.

With Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël Varane both likely unavailable, it will also measure how the side can adjust without two of its most important players.

Nottingham Forest – W, W, W, D, L

Winning their last three games in a row, Nottingham Forest seem to be picking up their form. A rampant 4-1 win at Championship high-flyers Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night will give the Trentside outfit momentum coming into this fixture.

Jesse Lingard will return to Old Trafford and, having scored in the win over Blackburn, he will be a man on a mission against his former side. He should expect a warm reception from the Old Trafford faithful.

Steve Cooper’s men have a long way to go to guarantee Premier League safety yet, but will feel up for the challenge in Manchester and are unlikely to be a pushover.