Guardiola makes nine changes for Forest clash | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made nine changes to his line-up for the clash at Nottingham Forest.

Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are the only players to keep their place in the Starting XI from the FA Cup victory over Plymouth.

Ruben Dias, one of the returnees today, captains the side for the 12:30 (UK) kick-off at the City Ground.

It's two changes from the team that started the last Premier League game against Tottenham - Bernardo and Foden replacing Omar Marmoush and Mateo Kovacic who drop to the bench in the East Midlands.

It promises to be an exciting encounter as third hosts fourth with both teams eyeing Champions League football in 2025/26.

The Blues are looking to qualify for the elite European competition for a 15th successive season while Forest have been the surprise package this term as they fly high in their third campaign back in the top-flight, following 16th and 17th place finishes.

TEAM NEWS

NOTTINGHAM FOREST XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Dominguez, Anderson, Gibbs-White (C), Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Wood

Subs: Hennessey, Morato, Sangare, Awoniyi, Moreno, Jota, Yates, Danilo, Boly

CITY XI: Ederson, Nunes, Khusanov, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Nico, Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Marmoush, Kovacic, Grealish, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Reis, O'Reilly, Lewis

TACTICS

Ederson starts in goal and will be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol.

Nico and Bernardo Silva will aim to dominate the battle ground of midfield with Phil Foden offering more attacking impetus to the champions.

Up top, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Erling Haaland will aim to do damage to the Forest backline.

Haaland looking to fell Forest again

If there’s a man for the big occasion, it’s Erling Haaland.It’s an important game this afternoon with City looking to cement our position in the Champions League places against fellow contenders Nottingham Forest.

Pep Guardiola’s men are fourth. Nuno Espirito Santo’s surprise package are third. Victory for the Blues would push us above the East Midlanders as we eye qualification in the elite European competition for a 15th successive season.

Forest have kept clean sheets in three of their last five top-flight games on home soil meaning we will have to be at our best in front of goal to get the better of the 1979 and 1980 European Cup winners.

WATCH: City's best Premier League moments at Nottingham Forest

Step forward Haaland, who has scored five goals in his five Premier League appearances against Forest, including the winner in a 2-0 victory last time out at the City Ground.

Not only does the Norwegian boast an enviable record against Forest, his stats since arriving in Manchester are eye-poppingly good and tell the story of a player who steps up when it counts.

He has scored the winning goal in 25 Premier League games, more than any other player since his first season in 2022/23. Indeed, only Sergio Agüero with 48 and Raheem Sterling with 28 have netted more winning goals for City in the competition than the Norwegian.

And the 24-year-old is just the second player to score 20+ goals in each of his first three Premier League seasons – a record-breaking 36 in 2022/23, 27 in 2023/24 and 20 in this campaign - after Ruud van Nistelrooy between 2001/02 and 2003/04.

What are we doing, guys?

Under normal circumstances, our 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest midway through the 2022/23 season would have been long forgotten by now.

But this game at the City Ground will always be iconic.

Chris Wood’s late leveller in February 2023 cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s opener and post-match Rodri cut a hugely frustrated figure in the dressing room.

His stirring message to teammates - ‘if we want to win this Premier League, we have to grasp it!’ – captured in the ‘Together: Treble Winners’ documentary, produced alongside Netflix, was just what was needed in that moment.

WATCH: Together: Treble Winners - Coming Soon!

The Blues subsequently went on a 12-game winning run to claim the Premier League title amidst our titanic Treble triumph.

It's a different mission this afternoon and indeed this season now but the stakes are still high as we eye Champions League qualification by finishing in the very upper echelons of the table.

Success in the East Midlands would put us third and help greatly in that quest.

In the words of our currently absent midfield maestro, it’s another prize to grasp.

WATCH: Trailer: Life After Football

MATCH STATS

-Nottingham Forest are winless in their last nine league games against City (D2 L7) since a 3-2 win at Maine Road in the second tier in December 1997.

-City have won our last three Premier League games against Nottingham Forest by an aggregate score of 7-0. We’ve never won four in a row against Forest in the top-flight before.

-Nottingham Forest are winless in their last three Premier League games since beating Brighton 7-0 last month (D1 L2). They last went four without a win in April 2024 (D1 L3), the fourth game of which was a 2-0 home loss to City.

-Only Liverpool (22) and Arsenal (18) have won more points in the Premier League in 2025 than City (16 – W5 D1 L2), with no team netting more often in the top-flight than us this calendar year (21 – same as Liverpool).

WATCH: Training video: Did you get it?

-Only league leaders Liverpool (12) have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than Nottingham Forest (11), who could keep three consecutive shutouts at home in the league for the first time since April 2022 in the Championship.

-Only Ipswich Town (80) have made more changes to their starting line-ups in the Premier League this season than City (77), who have made at least three changes in our last six matches.

-Chris Wood has been involved in 11 goals in his last nine Premier League games (8 goals, 3 assists). He’s also the only player to score for Nottingham Forest against City in the Premier League since their return to the division in 2022.

-Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels has kept the most clean sheets in the 2024/25 Premier League (11). Meanwhile, only Mark Crossley in 1994/95 (13) has recorded more clean sheets in a campaign for the Tricky Trees.