Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United Matchday Stats Preview
Following their 3-2 win at Old Trafford in December, Nottingham Forest are looking to complete their first league double over Manchester United since 1991-92 under Brian Clough.
Manchester United have lost their last two Premier League games against Nottingham Forest, more than they had in their first 13 beforehand (W10 D2 L1).
Nottingham Forest won this exact fixture 2-1 last season, last winning against Man Utd at the City Ground in consecutive league campaigns in 1988-89/1989-90.
Excluding 0-0 draws, the team scoring first has won 71% of Nottingham Forest’s games in the Premier League this season (20/28), a joint-high ratio in the division (Southampton also 20/28). The Tricky Trees have gone 1-0 ahead a league-high 22 times in the Premier League in 2024-25, winning 15 of those occasions (68%), however they have gone on to lose five of the six league games they have conceded first in this term (83%).
After their 3-0 win at Leicester, Manchester United are looking to win back-to-back Premier League games this season for the first time, and back-to-back away league games for the first time since winning three in a row in February 2024. The Red Devils are one of only three sides yet to win successive Premier League fixtures this season, along with Ipswich Town and Southampton.
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last eight home league games, winning six of them (D2), which is as many wins as their previous 24 at the City Ground beforehand (W6 D7 L11). The Tricky Trees last went longer without a home Premier League defeat in March 2023 (9).
Nottingham Forest have scored 49 goals from an expected goals tally of 37.5 in the Premier League this season, with their overperformance of 11.5 the biggest in the division this term. Conversely, Man Utd have conceded 40 goals from 45.5 expected goals against (5.5 overperformance), with only Tottenham Hotspur (6.3) having a better xGA difference in their favour in the 2024-25 Premier League.
Morgan Gibbs-White has assisted a goal in both of Nottingham Forest’s last two Premier League games; the only players to assist a goal in three successive appearances for the club in the competition are Steve Stone (Apr 1995), Ian Woan (Nov 1995), Gibbs-White himself (Apr 2024), and Anthony Elanga (Jan 2025).
Bruno Fernandes has scored (3 goals) or assisted (3 assists) a goal in each of his last four Premier League games for Manchester United. Only twice before has he had a longer run of goal involvements in the competition: five appearances from February to June 2020, and six from December 2022 to February 2023.
For Manchester United against Leicester last time out, Alejandro Garnacho scored his first Premier League goal in 17 appearances, while Rasmus Højlund scored his first in his last 14 games in the competition. Garnacho has never previously found the net in successive appearances in the Premier League, while Højlund last did so in May 2024.
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