- Kick-off
- Venue
- The City Ground, Nottingham
- Referee
- Sam Barrott
Our call: Nottingham Forest 0–2 Manchester City · Manchester City win
Forest have struggled to score all autumn, and Erling Haaland only needs one chance against their back three.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 5 Nov, 09:41 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- City are 2nd on 21 points, three behind Arsenal; Forest are 19th on 6 after nine games.
- Forest are without Nicolò Savona and Igor Jesus; City are without Antoine Semenyo.
- City's defence will give Forest chances, and Forest will not take enough of them.
The story
Oliver Glasner arrived from Crystal Palace in the summer. It has not worked yet. Forest took five points from their first four league games and one from the next five, and they lost 2–0 at Brentford on Sat 31 Oct with an own goal from Nikola Milenković and a late one from Igor Thiago. Forest had fourteen shots before one of them was on target. Glasner took the blame himself: "It's just one person to blame, and that's me."
The problem is goals. Forest have struggled for goals in their last ten games, in all competitions, and failed to score in more than half of them; no Premier League side has fewer league goals, Sky Sports noted after Brentford. Dan Ndoye is their top scorer in that run with two. Glasner's defence has held up better than his attack, but without goals that is not enough, and they have won once in their last ten, 2–1 at Aston Villa on Sat 12 Sep.
Manchester City arrive from a 3–2 win at RB Leipzig on Wed 4 Nov, where Erling Haaland scored the winner in the 78th minute from Elliot Anderson's pass. Anderson is a Forest old boy, and he started in Leipzig. That win came after two league defeats in a row, 2–1 at Aston Villa and 1–0 at home to Brighton, so Enzo Maresca's side have been far from watertight: they conceded in all of their last five games.
This decides it: Haaland against Forest's back three. If Milenković and Murillo keep him quiet, Forest can make this a low, nervy game; if they don't, Forest do not have the goals to come back.
Form
Four defeats in five, and two goals.
Three wins in five, and a goal conceded in every one.
The games, with scores
| Nottingham Forest | 31 Oct | at BrentfordPL | L 0–2 |
| 23 Oct | at IpswichPL | D 1–1 | |
| 18 Oct | v ArsenalPL | L 0–1 | |
| 11 Oct | at Crystal PalacePL | L 1–3 | |
| 19 Sep | v CoventryPL | L 0–1 | |
| Manchester City | 4 Nov | at RB LeipzigUCL | W 3–2 |
| 31 Oct | v BrightonPL | L 0–1 | |
| 24 Oct | at Aston VillaPL | L 1–2 | |
| 20 Oct | v AEK Athens FCUCL | W 5–1 | |
| 17 Oct | v IpswichPL | W 3–2 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. PL = Premier League, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Team news
Checked Thu 5 Nov 07:30 UTC: nottinghamforest.co.uk (Glasner's fitness update, 29 Oct; the Ipswich preview, 22 Oct), mancity.com (Maresca on Semenyo; the Brighton squad update), premierleague.com (The Scout, 4 Nov) and Sky Sports (no new Forest absence in its Brentford report, 31 Oct). Both clubs hold their press conferences before the game. Reported items are not yet confirmed by the club for this game. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki, with 4 goals each in City's last ten, both started in Leipzig, as did Haaland. Neco Williams, who landed heavily on his elbow at Ipswich, was passed fit and started at Brentford.
Manchester City 4-2-3-1 · at RB Leipzig, 4 Nov
- Donnarumma
- NunesKhusanovGuéhiO'Reilly
- FernándezAnderson
- FodenCherkiNdiaye
- Haaland (key battle)
- McAteeDelapNdoye
- WilliamsSchlagerGibbs-WhiteAina
- MurilloMilenković (key battle)Cunha
- Sels
Nottingham Forest 3-4-3 · at Brentford, 31 Oct
Both last XIs on a pitch
Manchester City 4-2-3-1 · at RB Leipzig, 4 Nov
- Donnarumma
- NunesKhusanovGuéhiO'Reilly
- FernándezAnderson
- FodenCherkiNdiaye
- Haaland (key battle)
- McAteeDelapNdoye
- WilliamsSchlagerGibbs-WhiteAina
- MurilloMilenković (key battle)Cunha
- Sels
Nottingham Forest 3-4-3 · at Brentford, 31 Oct
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Erling Haaland against Nikola Milenković. Haaland scored the winner in Leipzig; Milenković played in Forest's back three at Brentford and put the ball into his own net there, so he has something to put right.
Manchester City
Erling Haaland
City's top scorer in their last ten by five goals, and the man who settled the game in Leipzig.
- 9
- goals, City's last 10
Manchester City
Rayan Cherki
Started behind Haaland in Leipzig.
- 4
- goals, City's last 10
Nottingham Forest
Dan Ndoye
Forest's top scorer in their last ten, and he started at Brentford after a hamstring scare.
- 2
- goals, Forest's last 10
Player goals count only where we hold a named scorer: each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Head-to-head
We hold seven meetings since 2023 and show the newest five: Forest won one, drew one and lost three.
All 5 meetings
Result for Nottingham Forest. The newest five of seven meetings held since 2023. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Forest took a point at the Etihad in the last meeting, 2–2 on Wed 4 Mar 2026, and they beat City 1–0 at the City Ground in March 2025. They have not beaten them anywhere since.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: Nottingham Forest 6, Manchester City 28 (higher is better)
City scored five three times in their ten; Forest have never scored more than two.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Nottingham Forest 14, Manchester City 15 (lower is better)
The surprise: Forest let in one fewer than City over the same number of games.
Clean sheets, last ten: Nottingham Forest 1, Manchester City 3 (higher is better)
Forest's one was the 0–0 with Tottenham on Sat 5 Sep.
Last ten games each, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: Manchester City win 2–0. City are not the side they were at the back, and Forest will get chances; they had plenty at Brentford. But we have seen nothing this autumn to say Forest will take them, and City only need Haaland to find a yard once or twice. We expect Maresca's side to control the ball, Forest to sit deep and stay in the game for a while, and City to win it with a goal in each half. The difference is at the two ends: Haaland turns half-chances into goals, and Forest's forwards, Liam Delap and Dan Ndoye included, have not done that often enough since August. Glasner needs a performance; Maresca needs three points to keep up with Arsenal.
Where this could go wrong. City have lost two of their last three league games, both by a single goal, and they play here three days after a Champions League night in Leipzig. If Forest score first, the City Ground will carry them, and a 1–1 is the likelier miss, as the 2–2 in March was. The other way, Forest have let in three at Crystal Palace this autumn, and if City score early and Forest have to open up, this could end much heavier than 2–0.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: Glasner's and Maresca's press conferences, news on Igor Jesus and Domínguez, and both confirmed team sheets about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 4 Nov 23:40 UTC, so the counts include Forest's game at Brentford on 31 Oct and City's at RB Leipzig on 4 Nov. Over City's last ten games 1 goal (an own goal at Leipzig) has no named City scorer in our lists. Team news and match details from nottinghamforest.co.uk, mancity.com, premierleague.com and Sky Sports.
Our call was timestamped by an independent service before kick-off, Thu 5 Nov, 09:50 UTC.
How the timestamp works
Timestamped before kick-off by an independent service (DigiCert, RFC 3161), Thu 5 Nov, 09:50 UTC. The call file is the exact version that was timestamped. The file with our call and its timestamp token: call file · timestamp. Its fingerprint (sha256):
e43dff25f944b31a2100a54d8a3be4f26396984d696f6821eaf70af5e0f3e290
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 35/57
- home win every time
- 27/57