Manchester City will look to move closer to another piece of silverware when they face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday at 4:30pm (UK time).
City have endured a tough season, but can still taste success by winning their third FA Cup under Pep Guardiola. The Cityzens have enjoyed a favourable run to this stage, knocking out lower league Salford City (8-0), Leyton Orient (2-1) and Plymouth Argyle (3-1), before coming from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
Man City predicted lineup vs Nottingham Forest
Man City (4-3-3): Ortega; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Doku, Marmoush, Silva.
Man City team news vs Nottingham Forest
Qualifying for the Champions League and winning the FA Cup would still represent a good return for Man City, even if it comes nowhere near the standards they’ve set themselves previously. However, they must first negotiate a very difficult semi-final tie against Nottingham Forest, who are fourth in the Premier League and look set to dine at Europe’s top table next season.
The Tricky Trees beat Luton 2-0 in the third round, but have since needed penalties to get past Exeter, Ipswich and Brighton. Lady Luck might well be on the side of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Focusing on what he can control, Guardiola will be without a host of key players for this match. Most notably, Erling Haaland and John Stones won’t return until May, while Ederson is sidelined for this match.
Even worse, we already know Rodri is out for the season, while that may well be the same for defender Nathan Ake. City are hopeful Oscar Bobb will return before the end of the season, but he won’t feature in this match.
All of that said, Guardiola can still name a formidable team including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, while Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly have performed excellently recently as stand-in full-backs.
These two sides have already met twice this season, with each winning their home Premier League games: City 3-0 in December and Forest 1-0 in March.
Guardiola hails stand-in full-backs
As mentioned, City have been helped immensely by the performances of Nunes and O’Reilly as stand-in full-backs amid a clutch of injuries and the January loan departure of Kyle Walker to AC Milan.
In fact, it’s those two who have been the heroes of City’s last two Premier League games, with O’Reilly — who was a game-changing substitute in the quarter-finals against Bournemouth — opening the scoring in the 84th minute of their 2-0 win over Everton and Nunes netting a 94th-minute winner against Aston Villa.
Guardiola has sung the praises of his unlikely heroes, especially Nunes, who settled a key clash against Villa in dramatic fashion in mid-week.
“If you told me at the beginning of the season that at the end of it we would be fighting for the FA Cup final or to qualify for the Champions League with Nico and Matheus at full-back, I’d say: ‘What are you talking about?'” said Guardiola.
“Matheus is a person who is incredibly loved. When you talk with the journalists, he’s always so serious, but in the locker room, he’s always laughing.
“He has physicality for when he has to run and sustain the wingers. Step by step, he has been so important.”
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