English Premier
2025-04-01 - Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 1st April 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Nottingham Forest
Penalties have proven to be the decisive factor for Nottingham Forest and they have found their way into the FA Cup Semi Final winning three Shoot Outs in a row. The latest was at Brighton in the Quarter Final on Saturday and Nuno Espirito Santo's men continue to ride the momentum of a season of overachievement.
The Cup Semi Final will be played at Wembley Stadium later in the month, but the attention returns to the Premier League as Nottingham Forest look to hold off the challengers of a top four finish. The Tricky Trees are 3rd in the Premier League table and have a 6 point lead over Manchester City in 5th place, and Nottingham Forest can look at the 8-4-2 record at the City Ground as the key to their successes.
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions since the 4-3 defeat at Newcastle United, while they had won consecutive Premier League games before the March international break. They will be protecting an unbeaten run of 8 home Premier League games on Tuesday and Nottingham Forest have won 6 of those matches.
Morgan Gibbs-White picked up a knock on Saturday and is a doubt along with Chris Wood.
Manchester United
Ruben Amorim had downplayed the importance of the Europa League, but he is now well aware of the financial power it would give him in the summer if he could guide Manchester United back into the Champions League. Winning the competition will be tough, while the manager is also keen on having his team produce a strong end to the Premier League season to build momentum and confidence to take into August.
There is still a financial motive for Manchester United to finish as high up the Premier League table as possible- they are 13th in the standings with 9 games to be played, while an optimistic fan may see the 8 points to 8th placed Fulham as something they can bridge. The side have a 4-5-5 record away from home in the top flight where Manchester United have scored 16 goals and conceded 15.
Manchester United have lost none of their last 7 games in all competitions in normal time, although they did suffer a Penalty Shoot Out loss in the FA Cup during that run. Back to back wins over Real Sociedad and Leicester City before the March international break will have given the players a boost in confidence. Manchester United have played 8 away games in all competitions this calendar year and been beaten once.
Patrick Dorgu is available after serving a domestic suspension. Ayden Heaven will be missing, but Ruben Amorim has to be excited about seeing Leny Yoro, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw back in training. Mason Mount is also training and Kobbie Mainoo is to return soon, which may just give Manchester United the impetus for a strong end to the campaign.
Head to Head
Nottingham Forest ended with a 2-3 win at Old Trafford in December.
Nottingham Forest have hosted Manchester United 4 times at the City Ground since returning to the top flight and they have lost 3 times. However, it was Nottingham Forest who won the Premier League game here last season.
Prediction
Playing Extra Time and Penalties on Saturday and being involved in the Tuesday Premier League schedule is far from ideal for Nottingham Forest, but reaching the FA Cup Semi Final will have given the players a boost in confidence.
Losing Chris Wood to an injury in the March internationals is a blow and Morgan Gibbs-White may be unavailable, but that has not stopped Nottingham Forest finding big results.
They showed their defensive resiliency at the Amex Stadium on Saturday and Nottingham Forest have based much of their successes of this campaign thanks to that solidity at the back. At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest are not only unbeaten in 8 Premier League games, but they have secured 5 clean sheets and they will be looking to contain the Manchester United threat and hurt the visitors on the counter attack.
However, one thing that Ruben Amorim has done well in his short time with Manchester United is making them harder to beat against the top teams. That has led to draws against Arsenal (twice), Liverpool and they have beaten Manchester City and you have to expect Manchester United to arrive on Tuesday in good spirits after winning their last 2 fixtures.
With key players back in training, Manchester United may have better options than they have had for much of the Ruben Amorim era and that will help this team.
The Europa League is important, but Amorim has made it clear that every match matters between now and the end of the season and the visiting team may feel they can at least make things tough for Nottingham Forest without Wood and potentially Gibbs-White too.
Set pieces have continued to pose a threat against this Manchester United defence and Nottingham Forest may just edge the contest through something like that.
However, the feeling is that the defences may be on top for much of this Premier League fixture and backing under 2.5 goals looks the right approach from what we may see from the two teams in the final third.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester United
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Under 2.5 Goals at 1.91 with Bet365
