Three changes as Grealish, Lewis and Savinho start against Forest | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made three changes to his City side for this afternoon's FA Cup semi-final clash with Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

Jack Grealish, Rico Lewis and Savinho all come into the XI from the team that won late on against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and James McAtee step out of that team.

This is our record-extending seventh straight FA Cup semi-final, as we go after an eighth FA Cup trophy in our history and third under Guardiola.

City are seeking a third successive final appearance, which would make us the first club to have played in the showpiece of both domestic cups three years in a row.

Teams

CITY XI: Ortega, Nunes, Dias (C), Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Lewis, Kovacic, Bernardo, Savinho, Grealish, Marmoush

Subs: Ederson, Doku, Nico, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Reis, Akanji, Khusanov, Foden

NOTTINGHAM FOREST XI: Sels, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Hudson-Odoi, Toffolo, Danilo, Dominguez, Anderson, Gibbs-White (C), Wood

Subs: Miguel, Morato, Sangare, Awoniyi, Moreno, Jota, Elanga, Sosa, Boly

WATCH: FA Cup semi-final: Another Wembley date awaits!

Likely tactics

Stefan Ortega Moreno will be protected by a defence that will likely comprise of Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly in the full-back areas.

Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol continue their blossoming partnership at the heart of the back four.

Ahead of them, we can expect to see Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis and Bernardo Silva patrolling the engine room.

Jack Grealish, Omar Marmoush and Jack Grealish will spend most of their time in the final third, with positions likely to be quite fluid in the front three.

Seventh heaven

Amongst all of our incredible records, landmarks and trophies in recent years, Pep Guardiola is incredibly proud of our performances in the FA Cup.

The boss has led us to seven straight semi-finals and two finals in-a-row before this one, winning the trophy in 2019 and 2023.

Having won four straight League Cup triumphs earlier in his reign, victory today would make us the first team ever to reach the final of both domestic cups three years in a row.

In fact, we have now been to the 'new' Wembley 28 times - with 20 of those coming under Pep's stewardship.

With 18 major honours in Guardiola's eight complete seasons so far, the FA Cup now represents our final opportunity for silverware this term - in addition to the Community Shield won at this very stadium last August.

WATCH: Guardiola: I love having Rodri involved again

FA Cup regulars

Nico O'Reilly has really forced his way into our side through his performances in the FA Cup this season, with a brace against Plymouth Argyle and a starring role in the quarter-final comeback at Bournemouth.

He's more than deserving of another day at Wembley after playing in the Community Shield last August.

Jack Grealish has also featured in all four FA Cup games so far, playing an important role in our progress in this competition.

With the world watching on today, it's another great opportunity for them to take centre stage against one of the Premier League's leading sides this season.

WATCH: FA Cup short highlights: Bournemouth 1-2 City

Match stats

●      Nottingham Forest have beaten City 1-0 in the Premier League this season, last beating us twice in the same campaign in 1989/90.

●      We have lost four of our five FA Cup meetings with Nottingham Forest (W1), most recently a 3-0 home loss in the third round in 2008/09.

●      Since his debut in the FA Cup in January 2016, Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in more goals in the competition proper than any other player (28 – 10 goals, 18 assists).

●      This is our seventh consecutive appearance in an FA Cup semi-final, winning three and losing three of the previous six. We've won the last two, and are looking to reach the final in three consecutive years for the first time.

●      This is Nottingham Forest’s first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 1990/91 under Brian Clough, beating West Ham 4-0 at Villa Park before eventually losing to Spurs in the final.

●      This will be just Nottingham Forest’s second match at Wembley Stadium since its reopening in 2007, previously beating Huddersfield 1-0 in the 2022 Championship play-off final. Meanwhile, this will be our 28th game at the ‘new’ Wembley (as a neutral venue), with only Chelsea playing there more often (30).

●    City reached the League Cup final in four consecutive seasons between 2017/18 and 2020/21. We could now reach the FA Cup final for a third consecutive year and would be the first side to reach the final of both major domestic trophies three seasons running.

●      Nottingham Forest have progressed via penalties in the fourth round, fifth round and the quarter-final of this season’s FA Cup, the first team to have three shootouts in a single campaign in the competition. They also lost on penalties to Newcastle in the EFL Cup, with Chelsea in 2021-22 the only top-flight team to contest five penalty shootouts in a single campaign.