Nottingham Forest face their toughest test of the Premier League season so far when they play Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Only three days after facing Tottenham, a quick turnaround sees Forest face league champions Manchester City, with Steve Cooper's side entering the clash on the back of a defeat. Forest's last outing against Spurs ended as a 2-0 loss, despite Dean Henderson saving a Harry Kane penalty.
The last time Forest faced Manchester City came way back in 2009 - the Reds beat City 3-0 in the FA Cup. Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards are the only guaranteed absentees for Forest, and Cooper could rotate his starting XI for the midweek fixture.
READ MORE: Cooper sets out Forest plan for 'biggest challenge' against Man City
READ MORE: Forest boss provides Mangala injury update ahead of Manchester City clash
So, how could Forest fare on their trip to the Etihad? We simulated the game to try and find out.
Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest score predicted by simulation
To run this simulation, we used FIFA 22, updating the squads with the latest transfers made in this window. Both sides lined up in their 2021/22 kits as FIFA 22 does not provide the 2022/23 ones.
We predict that Man City will line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with the lineup looking as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Alvarez, Haaland, Foden.
We predict that Nottingham Forest will line up in a 3-4-3 formation, with the lineup looking as follows: Henderson; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Williams, Freuler, Yates, Toffolo; Johnson, Lingard, Gibbs-White.
Unexpectedly, the first 30 minutes of the contest belonged to Forest, with the Reds dominating the ball and creating chances. But, Jesse Lingard and Brennan Johnson both missed great opportunities to score, and City then managed to find the lead with their first shot of the game.
Julian Alvarez found the overlapping Kevin De Bruyne inside the box, and the Belgian midfielder pulled it across for Erling Haaland who drilled his effort into the top corner of the net. A flurry of chances fell City's way before the break, but the first half ended at 1-0.
City then made it 2-0 just after the restart as Haaland found the net again, this time a simple tap-in at the back post. Forest continued to create chances in an even game and were brilliantly denied by Ederson multiple times, and the home side confirmed the three points in the 85th minute with their third of the night.
A similar goal to the first, substitute Riyad Mahrez cut in from the right and made his way into the box with Haaland in support. The Norwegian forward peeled away from his marker and fizzed his shot across goal to make it 3-0 and grab his hat-trick.
Full-time: Manchester City 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that despite an impressive performance from Forest, they could find themselves on the end of a 3-0 defeat on Wednesday. Cooper's side had more shots than City, but the difference in attacking quality proved the difference as Erling Haaland netted three.
What do you think the score could be on Wednesday night? Let us know in the comments below!
READ NEXT:
