Manchester City get ready to welcome Nottingham Forest to their Etihad Stadium home on Wednesday 4th March 2026. Kick off is at 7:30 PM GMT, which is 8:30 PM WAT. Manuel Pellegrini‘s , err, no Pep Guardiola‘s City, in second spot in the Premier League with 59 points, are looking to make up some lost ground on leaders Arsenal after putting together a string of four straight league wins.
Vitor Pereira‘s struggling Forest, who currently sit 17th with a mere 27 points, are after three precious points in this tricky outing but they know they’re up against it – historically, they’ve found City a bit of a bulwark to break down.
Match Summary
City have been pretty unstoppable at home lately. They’ve won 16 of their last 19 league games on their own patch, with their back four looking impenetrable at times (they’ve kept it clean in their home league games recently). Before this trip to the Etihad, they did beat Forest 2-1 over at the City Ground back on December 27th 2025, thanks to a last minute strike from Rayan Cherki after Forest had taken the lead.
Last season, they beat Forest 2-0 in the FA Cup too. Forest have shown some grit at times but they struggle on the road, and their backline has been pretty leaky in recent games. This midweek clash is crucial for City’s chances of pinching the title – they need all three points to put some real pressure on Arsenal.
Expect City to boss the midfield and create plenty of chances, with goals likely when they are taking on a side lower down the table.
Head-to-head meetings between these two and City hold the upper hand by a country mile.
Possible Lineups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma – Nunes, Dias, Guéhi, Aït-Nouri – Rodri, Reijnders – Cherki, Foden/Silva, Semenyo – Marmoush
Pep Guardiola rotates a bit but still keeps a core group of players – Erling Haaland is out injured (ankle issues), and Kovacic is also out (ankle). Omar Marmoush leads the line and is a threat. Rayan Cherki is due to cause a bit of chaos behind him with his recent goal-scoring exploits.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels – Aina, Milenković, Murillo, Williams – Sangaré, Anderson – Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi – Jesus
Vitor Pereira has got a bad injury list to contend with: Chris Wood, Willy Boly and others are out long-term. Callum Hudson-Odoi brings pace and some danger as a winger, and Morgan Gibbs-White‘s a key player in midfield.
Prediction
City win at home, and win well here. Their home record, recent form and overall better quality of team make them heavy favourites to secure the three points. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki can cause all sorts of problems for Forest’s back four, and Rodri will be keeping the whole show on the road. Forest might nick a goal through Callum Hudson-Odoi but City are just to strong for them right now – they’re going to come out on top in this one sided affair.
Final score prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Nottingham Forest
