Manchester City will hope to get back to winning ways when they face Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night in the Premier League.
The champions haven’t won any of their last six games and have lost their last four in the Premier League - both of which are the worst runs of Pep Guardiola’s tenure. The Catalan has spoken about the need to find just one win in the club’s current run of form and is certainly not focusing on the bigger picture at this stage of the season.
“To think of the big targets would be a big mistake,” he said ahead of the game. “We have to beat a team that is close to us to be close to us to take advantage of them, to be close to the top four. That is the target and in November we will see what happens. We will try to win games.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola also insisted that if City’s full squad had been available all season then the team would have played at a similar level to last season. Incredibly, the Blues are currently fifth in the table, just a place behind Forest.
In Tuesday’s press conference the manager confirmed that John Stones remains absent, while Kevin De Bruyne’s fitness is improving. Elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic, Rodri and Oscar Bobb are still injured, but Guardiola does have a few options should he wish to rotate.
With that in mind, here’s how we think the team will line-up against Forest, with three changes from the XI that lined up at Liverpool…
9. RW: Phil Foden
Scored in this fixture last season but Foden is struggling to have impact on games at present.
10. ST: Erling Haaland
Has netted five in four previous meetings against Forest but has scored just one in his last four league appearances.
11. LW: Jeremy Doku
Had a positive impact against Liverpool after coming off the bench and might be selected in a more attacking line-up on Tuesday.