Ones to Watch: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United (Carabao Cup, 1st leg)

Three days after their heartrending defeat to league leaders Arsenal, Manchester United are back in action against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Both sides have met already this season, with United resoundingly 3-0 back in December. But since then, Forest win have only lost one game in their last six, and the decision to back Steve Cooper with them back in October looks very sensible. 

The last week for Erik ten Hag’s side has been a reality check. The draw to Crystal Palace demonstrated that United still needs to improve personnel issues in certain areas. The loss to Arsenal showed a team still early in their progression, and any talk of a potential title challenge was quickly hushed, which puts more emphasis on coming out victorious in the two-legged tie and booking their place in the final.

The boss has outlined his desire to return silverware to Old Trafford, “In January, you don’t win trophies, in February, you can win one; we have to aim for that and go for that,” he said in he pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

Read More: Erik ten Hag talks trophies as Carabao Cup semi-final looms

As for Forest, a semi-final tie against United presents an opportunity even the most optimistic fans wouldn’t have imagined. 

They sit 13th league, and their revival in recent weeks has catalysed the growing hope that they can survive in the top flight for this season. But a cup run, that has been quiet, will place high value from everyone attached to the club, to win their first cup since 1990.

So with that, let’s have a look at the players to look out for in this fixture:

Nottingham Forest — Morgan Gibbs-White

Nottingham Forest have spent a great extent of money since their return to the Premier League. In fact, since the summer of 2022, their 4th in the table for money spent. 

Of the 34 signings they’ve made, not many have performed as well as their record signing, Morgan Gibbs-White. 

Gibbs-White, 22, has been the primary catalyst for the Forest revival in recent weeks. Although his low productivity through the numbers, his performances have been joyful to the eye. 

The attacking midfielder is a constant driving force from deep in, helping his side transition quickly against open space. His creative ingenuity has been seen in his four assists this season, and similar to his opposition man, Marcus Rashford, a lot of the encouraging play from his side goes through him. 

He missed the trip to Old Trafford during the festive period, and the away side undoubtedly missed his presence. And on Wednesday night, he will be the decisive guy for the East Midlands side if they leave the fixture with a positive result.

Manchester United — Wout Weghorst

Many would believe a player with nine goals in nine games would be an immediate option for this section, but the resurgence of Marcus Rashford has been no secret, and it will be no secret to Steve Cooper’s side who United’s leading man is right now. 

Nonetheless, we’ve seen teams often look to block Rashford out of United’s attacking game, successfully or unsuccessfully; it puts the demand on the other attacking players to step up and exploit the extra space given to them. It will be no different against Forest. 

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With 159 minutes in the last two games, Wout Weghorst is starting to get back up to speed with the high-intensity demand of English football and, more importantly, Erik ten Hag’s system. 

The Dutch striker is yet to make his desired impact. Still, against a side who have often struggled aerially this season and tend to sit off their opposition once they enter their half, Weghorst is presented with the opportunity to break his goal-scoring duck and show the type of player he was brought in to be.