England Premier League
Tuesday 27th December 2022
Kick off at 8pm GMT
Venue: Old Trafford
Match Preview:
Manchester United will want to move on from the whole Cristiano Ronaldo story, after the Portuguese left the club by mutual consent back in November. But the media won’t let them just yet and his leaving the club will be the focus going into this game.
But back to the task at hand and Manchester United had been in decent form before the break winning 10 points from their last 15 with one defeat in their last five. That loss came some what surprisingly at Aston Villa but they rectified that by beating Fulham, away, 2-1. A top 4 finish will be the objective for United this season and they currently have 26 points in 5th place and are 3 points behind fourth placed Tottenham although have played a game extra. At home it is just one defeat and they have won 4 of their 6 games so far including their last two where they beat West Ham and Tottenham. United have recently played in the Carabao Cup and they looked quite impressive as they beat Burnley 2-0 at home.
Nottingham Forest are down in 18th place with 13 points but a win in midweek should have confirmed that for now they have escaped the bottom three. Forest have been poor so far however recent form has picked up with 8 points won from their last five games and just one loss. Before the break they drew 2-2 against Brentford and then beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and it is these types of games that Steve Cooper’s side need to be winning. We don’t need to go back to November for Forest’s last game as just a week ago they played in the Carabao Cup and knocked Blackburn out winning 4-1.
Team News:
Manchester United: Diego Dalot is only 50/50 to return from a hamstring problem, Harry Maguire could return after missing the cup game due to illness. Lisandro Marinez could miss this game due to his international commitments with Argentina at the World Cup. Jadon Sancho remains a major doubt with a lack of match fitness. Raphael Varane is only 50/50 to be back here after returning late from the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo has left the club by mutual consent.
Nottingham Forest: Serge Aurier is being tipped to return from a calf problem, Morgan Gibbs-White will be assessed but is hopeful for this game after a knock. Dean Henderson cannot play against his parent club. Wayne Hennessey will be assessed due to a knock. Omar Richads and Moussa Niakhate remain sidelined.
Man Utd vs Nottm Forest Head to Head:
The teams have not played since 1999 and it is a game that Forest will want to forget as they lost 8-1 at the City Ground.
Manchester United have won the last six meetings in a row.
Nottingham Forest last won at Old Trafford in 1994.
Man Utd vs Nottm Forest Prediction:
Manchester United have had a lot of success over Forest but we can’t take the h2h too seriously given the length of time that has passed. While it is true that this United side is not a patch on their 1999 one from the last time these two teams played each other, United are still a superior side to Forest and little has changed regarding the quality of both teams. The Ronaldo fall out can be substituted by how good Marcus Rashford has been this season and one feels he will be given even more regular time to become the main goalscorer for the club. He looks very confident and ready to go and we can see him scoring quite a few goals for the remainder of the season.
United are heavy odds on here so not many will be backing them so we will look into the handicap market. Tis the Christmas season and United are at home and have a lot of attacking options, we expect to see quite a few goals here and that isn’t discounting that Forest won’t get on the score sheet. They do after all have Jesse Lingard who will want to prove something against his former side.
Man Utd vs Nottm Forest Betting Tips:
Handicap: Manchester United to beat Nottingham Forest with a -1 goal start at 1.80
Anytime goalscorer: Marcus Rashford at 2.50
Anytime goalscorer: Bruno Fernandes at 3.00
Anytime goalscorer: Jesse Lingard at 6.00
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