(Football news) While the hosts are at the top of the Premier League standings, the visitors are ninth after seven points in their past four top-flight games. City fans are naturally pleased after watching their team win five Premier League games in a row, including a 3-1 victory away to West Ham United last weekend, thanks to goals from summer signings Doku, Silva, and Haaland.
Guardiola’s men had to come from behind at halftime to claim maximum points in the capital, and they were tasked with doing the same on Tuesday night when they began the defence of their Champions League crown at home to Red Star Belgrade, eventually winning by a 3-1 scoreline in their opening Group G fixture.
Osman Bukari surprisingly put Red Star ahead on the stroke of halftime, but a dominant Citizens outfit, who in contrast had 37 shots and 76% possession throughout the 90 minutes, turned the game on its head after the break thanks to a brace from Julian Alvarez and a composed finish from last season’s Champions League final hero Rodri to help City extend their club record of consecutive home wins in all competitions to 19 in all competitions.
Not only does City have a 27-game unbeaten home run in the Champions League – the third-longest run in the competition’s history – but they have also won all 12 of their Premier League home games in 2023, scoring 35 goals in the process.
Man City will fancy their chances of picking up another three points on Saturday and becoming only the second reigning Premier League champion, after Chelsea in 2005-06, to win their first six top-flight games of the season when they face Nottingham Forest, who they have beaten in each of their last three home meetings without reply, including a 6-0 thrashing last season in August 2022.
Nearly three weeks after losing 1-0 at home to Burnley in the EFL Cup second round, Nottingham Forest were on pace to suffer the same defeat in the final half-hour of their Premier League encounter with the Clarets on Monday.
However, newcomer Callum Hudson-Odoi made his City Ground debut with a brilliant second-half strike from outside the box to rescue a 1-1 draw for Steve Cooper’s side in a game in which Burnley were controversially denied a late winner by VAR due to a disputed handball.
Cooper will be reasonably pleased with Forest’s seven points from their first five Premier League games, given that they have already faced Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea away from home this season, but another difficult away trip is on the horizon at the home of the reigning champions.
Forest’s 1-0 win at Chelsea in their last away league game – one of only two away league wins in 14 games since the turn of the year – will instill confidence in Cooper’s squad heading to the Etihad, but they enter Saturday’s game having failed to win any of their previous six league meetings with Man City.
Forest’s solitary success at the Etihad Stadium came as a Championship club in January 2009, when they upset the Citizens with a 3-0 FA Cup win under previous caretaker manager John Pemberton.
Manchester City Premier League Form
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Nottingham Forest Premier League Form
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Also read: Manchester United play Burnley in the Premier League
