Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Nottingham Forest versus Manchester City, the final instalment of a gripping weekend of Premier League action, which kicks off at the City Ground from 4:30pm.
Sitting just one point from the relegation zone in 17th, with one win from their last nine Premier League matches, Nottingham Forest face an arduous task to improve their fortunes this afternoon, as Manchester City travel to the east Midlands on the hunt for a record-breaking fourth consecutive English top-flight title.
If this match proves as entertaining as Forest’s social media activity after their 2-0 loss against Everton last Saturday, then we all are in for a treat over the next few hours. The club’s extraordinary social media post criticising the PGMOL for Stuart Atwell’s appointment as the Var official, has dominated the discourse in English football over the past week.
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo expressed how he remains frustrated at the denial of his side’s three penalty appeals at Goodison Park last week. However, the 50-year-old Portuguese mentioned that he is determined to draw a line underneath this match and focus on the remainder of the season.
He said on Friday: “I still can’t believe it, as much as I see it. I still can’t believe how the decisions went against us. I think it’s very clear with the three penalties. Poor decisions went against us.
“It’s a big impact because it means points. It means frustration, it means disappointment and it means a sense that we feel like it’s always against us. All of those things are very difficult to deal with and to control those emotions. It is affecting us a lot.
“Since the beginning we have been trying to ignore the noise but these things keep happening. It disturbs the preparation, disturbs the mentality and the focus. It is our obligation to put a stone on that and move forward, which is what we are doing today.
“Now we need to move forward, that’s what we’re doing today.”
Meanwhile, Manchester City are in the midst of their usual end-of-season procession to the Premier League title, entering this match on the back of a comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of Brighton on Thursday, which made it 18 league games unbeaten for the reigning champions, whilst moving two points behind league leaders Arsenal.
It could be said Man City have an extra gear, which allows them to race clear of their counterparts in the final stretch of a league campaign. Interestingly, manager Pep Guardiola has said the incredible form of Phil Foden, who scored twice against Brighton in midweek to bring his league goals total to 16 this season has improved, because the 23-year-old has learnt to manage his intensity during matches, and not always play in sixth gear.
Guardiola said: “I said many times, Phil has a sixth gear. But he cannot play all the time in the sixth gear. He has to play with the second, or the third (gear). And I think with time he will learn that. Today was much better than the two or three games before. Everything is so quick, no! Football, you have to say sometimes, ‘Slower,’ to make it quicker after, to surprise the opponent.”
“Listen, I would love to go in sixth gear every single action. But after, you are less precise, and when you are in sixth gear you lose the ball all the time, that is not effective. Sometimes you have to reduce the moments, because the moments he has to know when he has to be aggressive and has to be more calm. But it’s a question of time. He’s improved a lot in that terms from the beginning of the season and the previous seasons.”
In the midst of this enthralling Premier League season, which for the most part, has featured a thrilling three-way title race for the first time in at least a decade, as well as a relegation battle containing two teams who have suffered points deductions mid-season, anyone making surefire predictions at this stage may feel rather foolhardy.
And, as likely as a comfortable Manchester City victory seems here, a match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground is rarely a formality, especially considering the fact Forest are unbeaten in their last three home league game as well as the fact this exact fixture produced a surprise 1-1 draw in March last year.
Is there another shock on the cards today?
Team news to follow shortly.
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