Nottingham Forest take on Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals this weekend as the season showpiece at Wembley approaches.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side are well in the hunt for the Champions League and could end the season memorably with a trophy and top European football.
Meanwhile, for Man City, this is their only hope of winning something.
Pep Guardiola‘s side are also embroiled in the race to qualify for UEFA’s premier competition, and a piece of silverware would bring a positive end to a tough campaign.
Of course, Forest haven’t won anything major since 1990, and the chance to end that drought is just one game away.
Nottingham Forest vs Man City: Same again?
Forest and Man City have already played twice this season with two very different outcomes.
At the Etihad, it was a bit of a walkover as City ran out 3-0 winners.
At the time, they hadn’t won in seven matches in all competitions, so it was a much-needed victory.
However, the return fixture at The City Ground saw Forest produce a magnificent defensive display to seal a 1-0 win.
In both matches, the away sides offered very little, so with this one being on neutral ground, it will be intriguing to see how it plays out.
But both sets of fans will be hoping for a repeat result from their respective home ties.
Hudson-Odoi’s goal against City was enough for Forest to beat the Premier League champions Nottingham Forest have beaten Man City 1-0 in the Premier League this season, last beating them twice in the same campaign in 1989-90 (2x league, 1x Full Members Cup). Manchester City have lost four of their five FA Cup meetings with Nottingham Forest (W1), most recently a 3-0 home loss in the third round in 2008-09. This is Nottingham Forest’s first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 1990-91 under Brian Clough, beating West Ham 4-0 at Villa Park before eventually losing to Spurs in the final.Nottingham Forest vs Man City: Team news
Forest will hope that Ola Aina is fit to return.
The full-back has been outstanding this season but has been missing for the last few games with an unspecified injury.
However, he is expected back in training any day.
There will also be a late check on Jota Silva, who missed the win over Tottenham with a knock.
Hudson-Odoi and Ryan Yates will hope to start having being substitutes for that victory.
For City, Rodri, Erling Haaland Nathan Ake are out.
Ederson and John Stones are closer to returning, but they might not make this one.
Elsewhere, expect some rotation, with Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku among those hoping for starts.
Foden has been benched for the last two Man City gamesGetty This is Man City’s seventh consecutive appearance in an FA Cup semi-final, winning three and losing three of the previous six. They’ve won the last two, and are looking to reach the final in three consecutive years for the first time. This will be just Nottingham Forest’s second match at Wembley Stadium since its reopening in 2007, previously beating Huddersfield 1-0 in the 2022 Championship play-off final. Meanwhile, this will be Man City’s 28th game at the ‘new’ Wembley (as a neutral venue), with only Chelsea playing there more often (30). Manchester City reached the League Cup final in four consecutive seasons between 2017-18 and 2020-21. They could now reach the FA Cup final for a third consecutive year and would be the first side to reach the final of both major domestic trophies three seasons running.Nottingham Forest vs Man City: What has been said?
City scored late on in midweek to beat Aston Villa, and Guardiola knows how important that is if his team are to finish in the top five.
He said: “I’m really happy.
“We’re in the last [top] four for the last four games and a Champions League contender for qualification. If we win the next four games, the win will have been so important.
“You don’t have to be scientists to realise that we play against Aston Villa, one of the best teams as you saw against Newcastle and PSG. An extraordinary team, but we performed as we did in the past with commitment.
“Qualification for the Champions League of course is important, but we have to be calm and focus on the semi‑final, and after that, we have days to prepare the four finals. Two games at home, two away and game by game.”
It’s full focus on the FA Cup now for GuardiolaGetty Nottingham Forest have progressed via penalties in the fourth round, fifth round and the quarter-final of this season’s FA Cup, the first team to have three shootouts in a single campaign in the competition. They also lost on penalties to Newcastle in the EFL Cup, with Chelsea in 2021-22 the only top-flight team to contest five penalty shootouts in a single campaign. Since the 2021-22 campaign, Ryan Yates has had a hand in eight FA Cup goals in 13 games for Nottingham Forest (4 goals, 4 assists), five more than any other player. He also scored the winning penalty in the quarter-final shootout against Brighton in March. Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo could become the second Portuguese manager to reach the FA Cup final after José Mourinho, who beat Manchester United (with Chelsea) in 2007 and lost to Chelsea (with Manchester United) in 2018. Since his debut in the FA Cup in January 2016, Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in more goals in the competition proper than any other player (28 – 10 goals, 18 assists).Nottingham Forest vs Man City: Date and how to follow
This FA Cup semi-final will take place on Sunday, April 27.
Kick-off at Wembley is scheduled for 4:30pm.
talkSPORT will have live coverage from north London, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former Forest and City manager Stuart Pearce.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
talkSPORT.com will also have regular updates in our live football blog.
The match will also be shown on ITV 1 and ITVX.
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