Nottingham Forest will be desperate to return to winning ways when they host an in-form Manchester United at the City Ground on Saturday.

Premier League football resumes this weekend with Gameweek 10 of the 2025/26 season. The action on Saturday starts with five simultaneous matches, including Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest could not have asked for a worse start to the 2025/26 season. The Tricky Trees have already sacked two managers, inviting ridicule they could have done without. However, it is deserved criticism due to the needless turnovers, which began with an unnecessary dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo. Ange Postecoglou could not do much after taking over, failing to win all the games he oversaw.

Since then, Sean Dyche has taken over, with the team experiencing another shock to the playing style under the newly-appointed head coach. However, uncertainties continue to plague the Midlands outfit, as after beating FC Porto 2-0 in the UEFA Europa League, they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth, thus going three points from safety.

On the other hand, Manchester United may have finally started turning things around under Ruben Amorim. While the mental fragilities have not gone away and some defensive issues remain, the Red Devils look exponentially more cohesive in the final third. That has enabled them to embark on a three-game winning run and rise to sixth in the Premier League standings, only two points behind second-placed Bournemouth.

The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 1-0 win for Nottingham Forest, with former Manchester United winger Anthony Elanga scoring the match-winning goal. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Nottingham Forest

Sean Dyche has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Nottingham Forest manager will be bereft of the services of nearly half a dozen first-team players vs Manchester United on Saturday.

Ola Aina (hamstring) and Chris Wood (knee) are the most notable absentees, although the latter will likely return next week. Nevertheless, the duo accompanies Angus Gunn (knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin), and Dilane Bakwa (knock) in the treatment room.

Matz Sels is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Nottingham Forest lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Manchester United on Saturday. The backline will feature Nicolo Savona, Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo, and Neco Williams.

As for the midfield unit, Douglas Luiz will likely line up alongside Elliot Anderson in the double pivot. Morgan Gibbs-White will reprise the no. 10 role, with Dan Ndoye and Callum Hudson-Odoi being the two wide attackers. Finally, Igor Jesus will lead the line for Nottingham Forest against Manchester United.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Sels; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Luiz; Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

Manchester United

Unlike his counterpart in the Nottingham Forest dugout, Ruben Amorim has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to the City Ground. The Nottingham Forest manager will be without only one first-team player on Saturday.

Harry Maguire is closing in on returning, and the English international faces a late fitness test to determine his availability. However, Lisandro Martinez remains on the sidelines, although the Argentine international has resumed training. The World Cup winner should be in contention to feature for Manchester United soon.

Senne Lammens picks himself between the sticks, with Manchester United lining up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in front of him vs Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The backline will feature Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, and Luke Shaw. Amad Diallo and Diogo Dalot will continue as the two wing-backs.

The wide duo will provide width in the final third and protect the centre-backs. As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro in the middle of the park. Finally, Benjamin Sesko will spearhead the Manchester United attack against Nottingham Forest, with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo completing the numbers in the offensive third.

Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Lammens; De Ligt, Maguire, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Mbeumo, Cunha; Sesko

Key Stats

• Nottingham Forest have won their last three Premier League games vs Manchester United, most recently winning four consecutive meetings with the Red Devils between February 1909 and September 1910. The Red Devils have lost their last two away league games against Nottingham Forest, most recently facing defeat in three successive ties at the City Ground between August 1965 and October 1967.
• Nottingham Forest have lost six of their last seven Premier League matches (D1), including the four most recent clashes without scoring. The Tricky Trees have not faced defeat in five successive matches since October 2022, while they last suffered five consecutive league losses without a goal in January 2004 in the second tier.
• Manchester United have won their three most recent Premier League matches, their best run in a season since a run of four in February 2024. The Red Devils were one of three sides to win all their games in October, along with Arsenal and Aston Villa.
• Nottingham Forest scored three goals from seven shots in the first half of their opening Premier League match this season against Brentford (43% conversion). In their 17 halves of football since then, the Tricky Trees have scored only two goals from 93 shots (2%).
• From Gameweek 3 onwards, only Arsenal (16) have picked up more Premier League points than Manchester United (15 – W5 L2), while the Red Devils are the leading scorers in the division in that time (14).

Player to Watch

Matheus Cunha

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While Bryan Mbeumo, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Igor Jesus were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Matheus Cunha as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground.

Cunha notched up his first Premier League goal for Manchester United in the game against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend. Meanwhile, the Brazilian international has an exceptional record against teams in the relegation zone.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers talisman has been involved in seven goals in his last four appearances against clubs starting the day in the drop zone (3 goals, 4 assists), all for Wolves between April 2024 and April 2025. Cunha will aim to build on that record this weekend.

Prediction

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester United

The baptism of fire continues for Sean Dyche, as the beleaguered Nottingham Forest will host Manchester United this weekend. The Midlands outfit did the double over Manchester United last season, but that will unlikely happen this weekend. The build-up to the game has also been spicy due to the discussions in the press conferences.

Some of the pre-match talk has also focused on Dyche’s comments on Manchester United’s struggles under Ruben Amorim during his appearance on Overlap a few months ago. The two managers have traded comments, with Amorim shrugging it off before Dyche course-corrected by suggesting the quotes were taken out of context.

Back to the match, and the Red Devils are well-placed to clinch six points this weekend, and they may not have much to worry about for large parts of the proceedings. Meanwhile, Dyche seen his teams fail to score in ten of his last 14 Premier League games in charge (9/13 with Everton, 1/1 with Nottingham Forest).

Among managers to take charge of 150 or more games in the Premier League, Dyche has the lowest goals per game ratio (323 goals in 334 games, 0.97 per game). So, while Nottingham Forest will produce a spirited performance, it will not be enough to get anything from the game. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-0 win for Amorim and his charges.