CITY GROUND, NOTTINGHAM — Manchester United bring down the curtain on their 2023 with a trip to face relegation-battling Nottingham Forest in today’s late kickoff.
The Red Devils approach this winless in their last four away games across all competitions, though have some renewed energy following the £1.25 billion partial takeover (25%) of the club by Jim Ratcliffe on Christmas Eve, and the remarkable 3-2 comeback victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Forest, meanwhile, were also reinvigorated last time out, with Chris Wood’s hat-trick giving them a 3-1 win away at Newcastle United. That marked new manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s first three points.
The Sporting News is live from the East Midlands, with score updates and the key incidents throughout the afternoon below.
Nottingham Forest vs Man United live score
Score Goalscorers Nottingham Forest 0 — Man United 0 —
Nottingham Forest vs Man United live updates
55th min: Dalot hits the post! Out of nowhere, the Italian strikes from the edge of the area to beat Turner but his left post keeps out the sweet effort.
54th min: Like the first half, Forest have started the second as the better side. No shots as yet, but both Aina and Niakhate have made dangerous runs down the flank to create a little panic in the United backline. Meanwhile, Antony has been substituted off for Diallo.
46th min: The second half is underway. Ten Hag has made one change at the break, with McTominay on for Mainoo in midfield.
HALF-TIME: Nuno will be pleased with how easily his side have contained United, but will surely be partly frustrated that Forest haven’t put their foot down at times to really punish this horrid United performance. It’s goalless at the break.
45th min: Mercifully, the referee has added only one minute of stoppage time to this snoozefest.
36th min: United do not look like a side with fresh impetus after that comeback four days ago. Devoid of any imagination in the final third, this game is petering towards half-time with a whimper.
28th min: Eriksen is starting to get his foot on the ball and dictate the tempo as United begin to camp out in the Forest half. That’s until Evans is caught in possession by Elanga, who understandably looks up for this game, and lead to some Forest respite with a couple of minutes peppering the box.
19th min: The visitors have calmed the game slightly, aside from one more dangerous cross from Elanga which evades everyone as it zooms across the box.
11th min: United look like conceding soon. Varane nearly scores an own goal with the latest Forest attack from former United man Elanga, whose cross is fluffed at by the France international.
7th min: No clear-cut chances so far, but Forest have made more inroads, with Wood and Gibbs-White threatening and firing off shots.
KICK-OFF: We’re underway at an incredibly loud City Ground.
20 mins to KO: Results elsewhere today have gone Forest’s way, with none of the four teams below them winning, though Burnley did take an unexpected point at Villa. A victory over United would lift the Reds above Brentford, who also lost today to Crystal Palace.
Forest made this famous old ground a fortress last term — claiming impressive scalps versus Arsenal and Liverpool along the way — but their form of late has been incredibly poor. The last four home games have ended in defeat, while the four before that saw just one win.
40 mins to KO: Hojlund’s absence means Marcus Rashford starts up top for the visitors, while Antony gets a chance out wide on the left. The former has made a couple of substitute appearances centrally of late, but his last league start there came in a 3-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion in September. The one before that was a 2-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian’s league campaign has been even worse than the two-goal, two-assist return of Rashford. Indeed, Antony is yet to make a single goal contribution across his 15 appearances, 10 of which came as a starter. He did score here last season, though.
1 hour to KO: Team news is in. Luke Shaw was expected to return for United alongside Sofyan Amrabat, but both miss out for a second straight game. For Forest, Willy Boly only makes the bench after returning from a ban.
Nottingham Forest XI: Turner (GK) — Montiel, Niakhate, Murillo, Aina — Yates, Danilo — Elanga, Gibbs-White, Dominguez — Wood.
Man United XI: Onana (GK) — Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot — Eriksen, Mainoo — Garnacho, Fernandes, Antony — Rashford.
1 hour 5 mins to KO: Breaking news here is that Rasmus Hojlund, the hero of Boxing Day with his first Premier League goal, is not with the squad this evening. The Denmark international misses out through illness. Team news is five minutes away.
1 hour 20 mins to KO: Morgan Gibbs-White was sensational in the second half of last season, particularly showing up in the big games at the City Ground. However, the former Wolves man has produced just four goal contributions so far this term, struggling slightly under Cooper. Now linking up with his former Molineux boss, Gibbs-White has impressed Nuno in the last two games.
The Portuguese said: “Morgan had an amazing game at Newcastle, but also against Bournemouth. He started in a more advanced position, he dropped into midfield and he delivered, he fights. Morgan is quality, he has the talent and special abilities to help the team.”
1 hour 40 mins to KO: Reflecting on his team’s comeback against Villa, Ten Hag told MUTV: “The determination, the resilience: this team is strong. They have the personalities to deal with setbacks. And we have had so many across the season. You don’t want to have such bad experiences, but we have had them and we have dealt with them.”
There certainly have been setbacks aplenty. If United can win today, it will mark only the third time this term they’ve enjoyed back-to-back league victories — and the first time any of those such runs have involved an opponent in the top half of the table (Villa).
2 hours to KO: Hello and welcome to the Sporting News’ live coverage from the City Ground. Since Forest returned to the Premier League last season, this fixture has been utterly dominated by United.
Three league victories, plus a 5-0 aggregate win across their Carabao Cup semi-final legs, made grim reading for Steve Cooper. Nuno has a poor record against the Red Devils himself, winless in his last seven while coaching Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nottingham Forest vs Man United lineups
Nottingham Forest XI: Turner (GK) — Montiel, Niakhate, Murillo, Aina — Yates, Danilo — Elanga, Gibbs-White, Dominguez — Wood.
Man United XI: Onana (GK) — Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot — Eriksen, Mainoo — Garnacho, Fernandes, Antony — Rashford.
Nottingham Forest vs Man United live stream, TV channel
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