Manchester Utd vs Nottingham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-08-25 14:00.
Even by Manchester United’s standards, the past week has been an explosive one at Old Trafford. After a chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham, the club announced that suspended forward Mason Greenwood would leave the club after a six-month internal investigation. Manager Erik ten Hag will be keen for focus to switch back onto the pitch, where yet again he was left bemoaning his side’s wastefulness as they fell to defeat in North London.
Across their first two Premier League (PL) matches, the Red Devils have accumulated 3.43 xG but only have one goal to show for it – and even that one was scored by a defender. The Old Trafford crowd could be key in stopping United from “switching off” as Ten Hag raged after their Spurs loss, with his side unbeaten in an astonishing 30 matches at the Theatre of Dreams (W26, D4), a run that stretches back to September 2022.
Visiting Nottingham Forest may smell blood in the Mancunian water as they venture north after securing their first victory of the PL season. The 2-1 win over newly-promoted Sheffield United was described as “important” by boss Steve Cooper, who’ll now be keen to get some points on the board away from home given his side’s awful travelling record since returning to the top-flight (W1, D5, L14).
No matter the circumstances, Man Utd are far from ideal opponents to make that happen against, as Forest have lost ten straight H2Hs against the Red Devils. That includes all four meetings in all competitions last term which saw the Tricky Trees lose by a 10-0 aggregate scoreline! No side has beaten them more in PL history (W1, D2, L9), and incredibly only three of the starting lineup that beat Sheffield United were alive the last time they beat Man Utd back in December 1994!
Players to watch: United forward Marcus Rashford bullied Forest last season, directly contributing to five goals in three personal H2Hs (G2, A3). The visitors have a free-scoring striker of their own, with Taiwo Awoniyi netting in six straight league games, joining Stan Collymore as the only player to do it in their PL history. If the Nigerian nets again here, he’ll join Mohamed Salah and Emmanuel Adebayor as the only Africans to score in seven consecutive PL games.
Hot stat: In PL home matches under Ten Hag, Man Utd have conceded more than one goal just twice, and on both occasions they failed to win.