The State of Play
Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest will remain concerned about relegation from the Premier League without a points deduction but the reported likelihood of a deduction only makes matters worse. They head into this FA Cup fifth round clash at the City Ground on the back of needing extra time in a third round replay against League One Blackpool and then penalties after a replay with Championship Bristol City in the fourth round.
Many believed Manchester United to be performing at a decent level when they went on a five-match winning streak across all competitions but performances remained very unconvincing and the inevitable ending of their run happened at Old Trafford on Saturday. Alex Iwobi scored a 97th minute winning goal for Fulham to inflict United’s 15 defeat of the season in all competitions.
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Team News
Nuno Tavares and Chris Wood remain unavailable for Nottingham Forest this week, whilst their three AFCON players, Ola Aina, Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare, have all returned to the club without full fitness.
Erik ten Hag will be without Rasmus Hojlund until the middle of next month and he is also still missing the likes of Luke Shaw and Mason Mount with Casemiro also a key doubt.
Expected Line-ups
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Williams, Felipe, Murillo, Niakhate; Dominguez, Danilo; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Awoniyi
Man Utd: Onana; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Lindelof; Mainoo, McTominay; Forson, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford
What they Said
Nuno Espirito Santo described the club as ‘concerned’ yesterday in his pre-match press conference as the likelihood of a Nottingham Forest points deduction grows.
In the aftermath of Manchester United’s loss at home to Fulham on Saturday, Erik ten Hag said that fans need to see ‘the bigger picture’, without too much elaboration on what that actually was or means.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the City Ground at 19:45 on Wednesday February 28th and will be shown live on BBC One. It can also be streamed live via BBC iPlayer.
Prediction
Now then, Nottingham Forest most likely aren’t fussed by this one. Their focus, especially from a financial perspective, will be on ensuring survival in the Premier League so this could prove to be a major distraction. Most functioning top-half Premier League teams would take advantage of that to dismiss them out of the competition but United simply cannot be trusted. The visitors are favourites but both teams scoring remains most likely.