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This is how we're all feeling ahead of this win (😉😅) at Forest.
Ruben's Reds are on the rampage and are seeking their fourth straight victory! Crazy to think that a few weeks ago, he was under serious pressure with major question marks about his future.
Yet here we are now and on the march towards Champions League football.
How fast things can change.
Let's hope that this trajectory continues and we don't start moving in the opposite direction 🤞.
However, Forest won't be an easy test and will be a different type of game to that we've faced in any of the last three. With it being away from home and with a new manager, Forest certainly won't make things comfortable and will want to be the side to end this winning streak.
Don't be surprised if they turn into prime Barcelona. You know that when we come to town, teams all of a sudden play the best football they've played.
Can we go four from four?
Predicted Lineup
I don't actually see many changes. The team against Brighton performed superbly and it was one that resembled a side that was closer to what many would think was our strongest XI.
The thing is, and this isn't necessarily a bad thing, we have so many players who are performing that it's difficult to leave some out.
As you can see, Maguire has come back in for Yoro who did nothing wrong last time out and had a splendid game himself. Given how the former captain performed at Liverpool though and the manager valuing him quite highly in the team, I see him making a return.
Mount was another who was playing well before his knock which kept him out of the victory over the Seagulls. I wouldn't be surprised if he did start but I believe Amorim will stick with Sesko, Cunha and Mbeumo.
I think the Slovenian and Maguire would make sense because of our opponents Forest who under Sean Dyche, will most likely play root one, long ball stuff. Those two players come in handy in such games as they are powerful in the air.
Approach
This opponent will give us something different to what we've expereinced in recent weeks. Both Liverpool and Brighton are more possession-based and don't use the long ball that much. While we faced Sunderland not long ago, they too weren't completely root one and old school ball despite their strong ability to counter.
Sean Dyche though, is the old school football-type manager. We know what to expect from him.
This is why it will give Amorim and this United side a different challenge. Coming up against teams with a lot of the ball, it allowed for us to play this more pragmatic style. The long balls and winning the second balls have been so important to our success in these three wins.
But again, this may not necessarily work against a Dyche side.
Over the years, these type of sides have been a real weakness of ours. Struggling to break them down left us frustrated and lacking ideas as to how to get passed them.
This 3-4-3 formation will allow us to look to the width in times when they defend deep with all players behind the ball. This is where someone like Amad can be so crucial even more so with his developing relationship with Mbeumo. That right flank is vital in such a game.
United can perhaps try and isolate Amad out wide so that he can take players on 1-v-1 and create some chances.
Mbeumo has also made the most off-ball runs in behind opposition defenses with 141, 19 more than any other player (Opta). I doubt that this willbe an option against a low block side.
In my post bout how important Cunha and Mbeumo are, I mentioned how these were the type of games that made them the players they are at Wolves and Brentford.
Cunha in particualr is one that I would look to give the ball to as often and as quick as possible. His ability to run with the ball whilst dragging players out of position and leaving spaces for others to exploit can be crucial in a match with little space.
He's so strong in terms of how he holds off opponents. Having such a player could be the difference in us unlocking a tight defense. We didn't have such a player against such opponents before.
Something that we saw was key in our victory over Brighton was how well we pressed high up the pitch. This resulted in many chances and that second goal. This will not be the case against Forest because they won't play out from the back which removes that chance for us to press high
Forest will use the long ball themselves with Chris Wood being the target. This is another reason as to why Amorim could pick Maguire although Yoro and De Ligt are good in the air as well.
Speaking of Maguire, considering how slow he is, if he were to play, this is where Dyche would look to take advantage of us. When they counter, they can use the speed of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White to get in behind a line that will probably push quite high up the field given the amount of possession we'll have.
We've seen such situations before in both the Derby and at Brentford which cost us goals.
So we will have to try something a little different but with Amorim's adaptability in recent matches, I don't see why we can't adopt this different approach.
Form
It's weird to be saying this but,
WE ARE ONE OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE (currently)!
Only Arsenal and Villa have better form as they won four and drew one whereas we won four and lost one. Even still, that is quite the turnaround to a point where Amorim should be nominated for manager of the month!
United scored 4 for the first time in the league since December last year in Amorim's second PL game in charge (4-0 Everton). Cunha also finally managed to get on the scoresheet since his arrival. All three of the new forward line have now scored.
United have put the ball in the back of the net on 8 occasions in the last three games conceding just 3 and keeping one clean sheet. Since Lammens has come in goal, we've won all three matches.
Let's make that four 😁.
The 15 we've scored is now in and amongst the others in the top 10 yet the 14 conceded is the joint-most with Liverpool.
Our away form is not the best as United sit in 12th in the away table. After four games, we've lost twice, drawn once and picked up just one victory although that was a pretty big one in our last away trip.
United are also amongst the lowest scorers on the road with just 4. The 8 we've let in is pretty much mid-table.
However, the recent record with Forest is not what we want to see. They have really done a number on us in the last three league encounters. They've won ALL of them including the double over us last season. This fixture last year saw them defeat us 1-0 in an utterly boring performance by United.
The man who gave them this win Anthony Elanga, is no longer at the club after moving to Newcastle. This could be a blessing for us.
Forest
Sean Dyche's Fottingham Norest have had a dismal start to a campaign that many would've felt would've been hard to follow on from last season's 7th placed finish.
However, with Nuno Espirito Santo in charge, many would've felt confident enough to have another strong season.
But then, you know what happened.
Santo's ridiculous sacking was proceeded with the horrendous tenure of big Ange Postenoclue who couldn't win a game in eight. He was relieved of his duties after their 3-0 loss at home to Chelsea.
Then came Dyche who did win his first game which was a 2-0 triumph over Porto in the Europa League. Forest seeing a win for the first time in 9...years (it must have felt like that anyway).
Unfortunately, they then met high-flying Bournemouth and the Cherries ran out 2-0 winners.
This all means that Forest are languishing in 18th with just 5 points after nine games. One win, two draws and three defeats.
THEY'VE HAD MORE MANAGERS THAN WINS!
Their 5 scored is also the fewest in the league and the 17 conceded is the third most. Only Wolves (19) and West Ham (20) have let in more.
Before the sacking of Santo, Forest had an even record: three played, one win, one draw, one loss. But it was that 3-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers West Ham that seemed to do it for owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Big Ange decided to show Marinkais what being truly shit is all about however, as he went eight games without a win in which time he picked up two draws and lost six times. They conceded a mammoth 15 goals while scoring 7 in this terrible run.
I don't actually know whether getting rid of Ange was good for United or not. He beat us in all four meetings last season including that Europa League final so perhaps not facing him is a positive but we then have to face the new manager bounce with Dyche, which will be difficult.
What we do have on our side is that Dyche has an awful record against United. In 18 matches, he's won just one, drawn five and lost 12. That solitary victory was in that infamous 2-0 win for Burnley at Old Trafford in 2020.
Forest are also 18th when it comes to the home table. Their only win was at The City Ground which came on opening day (3-1 Brentford). The other three matches were all losses and more than that, they didn't score in any of them.
This means that Forest have scored just 3 goals but conceded 8 two of which were 3-0 defeats.
Prediction
For the first time in a while, I'm feeling confident of a United victory. I don't think it will be as easy as we'd like as we always give teams a chance but I don't think that Forest will cause us too many problems (I hope 🤞).
1-2 is what I predict and while that may seem tight, I feel like we'll have this game under control.
So, Amorim to make it four from four then?
Elliot Anderson | Image via Nottingham Forest official X (@NFFC)
Bryan Mbeumo | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
The City Ground | Creator: Flynn Duggan | Credit: Nottingham Forest FC via Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Nottingham Forest FC via Nottingham Forest FC