Key events
City in boxseat to sign Semenyo
Manchester City: Although nothing has officially been agree between the two clubs, Manchester City are in pole position to sign Antoine Semenyo in January after Chelsea cooled their interest in the Bournemouth winger. Jacob Steinberg reports …
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Rob Jones
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Assistants: Neil Davies and Nick Greenhalgh
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Fourth official: Gavin Ward
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VAR: Andy Madley
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Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan
Those teams: Nicolas Dominguez comes in for Douglas Luiz as Forest’s only change to the team that lined up against Fulham last time out, while the same 11 players who started for City in their win over West Ham all passed their Boxing Day weigh-in and have been picked to do battle again.
Nottingham Forest v Man City line-ups
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Williams, Murillo, Milkenkovic, Savona, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Hutchinson, Igor Jesus
Subs: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo, Reijnders, Foden, Cherki, Haaland
Subs: Trafford, Ake, Rodri, Savinho, Khusanov, McAidoo, Mukasa, Lewis, R. Heskey
John Robertson remembered
Nottingham Forest: A player who was adored by Forest fans and made Nottingham his permanent home, expect reverential tribute to be paid to the late John Robertson at the City Ground ahead of kick-off this afternoon. Genuine tears of sorrow will be shed as Forest supporters bid farewell to one of their greatest ever players, whose death at the age of 72 was reported on Christmas Day.
A key member of the Forest team Brian Clough marched from the second tier to the very summit of European football, this incredibly talented Scottish winger may not have looked much like an elite athlete but played an instrumental role in helping Forest win two European Cups and represented his country 28 times.
Paying tribute to Robertson’s stellar service with the club, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis said he has recommended that the City Ground’s Bridgford Stand be renamed The John Robertson Stand in Robbo’s honour and “in lasting recognition of his extraordinary contribution to our club, so that his legacy – and our great hero – will forever be remembered”.
Early team news
Chris Wood remains sidelined for Forest but is back gambolling on the grass as he recovers from the knee injury that has kept him out since mid-October. Ola Aina is also out, while Dan Doye and Ryan Yates were facing late fitness tests. Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly are both away in Morocco representing the Ivory Coast at Afcon.
Manchester City are without Rayan Ait Nouri (Algeria) and Omar Marmoush (Egypt), who are both at Afcon, while Jeremy Doku is expected to miss out today with an ankle injury. John Stones, Oscar Bobb, Rodri and Mateo Kovacic are also unavailable.
Premier League: Nottingham Forest v Man City
Hello there. It’s the festive period, which means two things: you’re not sure what day it is and there’s lots of football being played. Manchester City arrive in Nottingham like a relentless blue superthing that has finally hit fifth gear. Having spent yesterday weighing his players like precious metals in a bid to gleefully seize upon any evidence of Christmas Day over-indulgence, Pep Guardiola is chasing an eighth straight win. With Erling Haaland back to his terrifying best and Rayan Cherki pulling strings like a puppet master, City know victory will nudge them above Arsenal to the Premier League summit, at least for a few hours.
Standing in their way are Nottingham Forest, who are hovering uncomfortably above the trapdoor in 17th place but have won six of their past nine in all competitions and emerged victorious from this fixture last season. In Sean Dyche they have a head coach who views 30% possession and a bruising set-piece goal as the highest form of art. Will it be a post-Christmas stroll for the visitors, or will Dychey take great glee in ruining Pep’s festive fun? Kick-off is at 12.30pm (GMT) and we’ll have team news and build-up in the meantime.
