Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City: Prediction, Tips and Odds | Premier League

Nottingham Forest are 19th in the Premier League and have not scored at home all season, though Saturday's 5:30pm showdown against Manchester City at the City Ground is one of the hardest possible fixtures to try putting that right in.

The Sky Blues are second, three points behind Arsenal, and arrive after a 3-2 win at RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday, hoping to sign off before the international break on a positive note.

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City form and preview

Forest's home drought is even longer than the league table shows, with the Tricky Trees also losing 2-0 to Leeds in the Carabao Cup at the City Ground on August 25, making it five games across all competitions without a goal on their own turf.

By one expected-goals measure the numbers are not as bleak as the results suggest, as Forest have scored six times in nine league games from chances worth 14.6 xG, pointing to wasteful finishing more than a lack of creativity in the team.

The club's poor conversion rate was certainly a major issue at Brentford, where Forest lost 2-0 despite an expected-goals count of 0.86 to the Bees' 0.46.

Oliver Glasner responded to that defeat by telling his players they must buy in to his changes, a message aimed at a squad that has taken one league win from nine games.

That dire start to the season has the Garibaldis 19th on six points, one behind both 17th-placed Manchester United and 18th-placed Crystal Palace.

However, while Forest have only collected a single point at the City Ground this season, drawing 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur on September 5, each of their league defeats at home have been by a single goal, and the margins could fall in their favour on Saturday.

City set a blistering pace by winning their first seven league games under Enzo Maresca, though they have hit a stumbling block, losing 2-1 at Aston Villa on October 24 and 1-0 at home to Brighton a week later, surrendering top spot in the process.

In that period of turbulence, Erling Haaland has remained the constant for the Citizens, bagging nine goals in nine league games to lead the division's golden boot race, and he followed that run with the 78th-minute winner at Leipzig on Wednesday.

City do lead the Premier League on expected goals, with 18.3 from nine league games, and overperforming that figure to net 20 times serves to highlight the Mancunians' impressive finishing.

Away from home, City have won three of their four league games, with Haaland scoring five times and Rayan Cherki three, and it is notable that eight of the Sky Blues' nine away league goals have come after half-time.

Cherki himself has four strikes and two assists from six starts in the top flight, though he was left out of the line-up that lost to Brighton.

At the opposite end of the pitch, the team have not been as watertight as they were in the early stages of the campaign, failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their past seven matches across all competitions.

Team news: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City

Nottingham Forest team news

Nicolas Dominguez is out for up to eight weeks after a setback in training, which leaves Xaver Schlager and James McAtee to anchor the middle of a probable 3-4-2-1.

Igor Jesus is back in training after a calf problem, but Liam Delap leads the line in the predicted XI, so any involvement for the Brazilian is likely to come from the bench.

Glasner could make one change from the side beaten at Brentford, with Daniel Munoz favoured to replace Ola Aina at right wing-back.

Nottingham Forest predicted lineup vs Manchester City

Sels; Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo; Munoz, McAtee, Schlager, Williams; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Delap

Manchester City team news

Antoine Semenyo is the only reported absentee for City, with Maresca saying the forward would be out for around eight weeks due to the knee injury he suffered against Ipswich Town.

Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, both on the bench in Leipzig, are expected to return in defence alongside Abdukodir Khusanov and Matheus Nunes.

In midfield, Elliot Anderson faces the club that sold him this summer, with Enzo Fernandez expected to partner him and Cherki favoured in the number ten role.

Haaland is expected to lead the line once again, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jeremy Doku supporting the talismanic striker on the flanks.

Manchester City predicted lineup vs Nottingham Forest

Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Ndiaye, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Head-to-head: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City

City edged Forest 2-1 at the City Ground on December 27, with a late Rayan Cherki goal deciding it, before the sides drew 2-2 at the Etihad on March 4.

Across all competitions, City have won four of the last six meetings, including a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win at Wembley in April 2025, though Forest triumphed 1-0 at the City Ground the month before.

Neither Glasner nor Maresca was in charge of either club for any of those games, so the history says little about the two sides as they stand now.

Our Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City prediction and tips

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Odds correct as of Friday, 6 November 2026, 17:55 GMT.