The Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town FA Cup clash on Monday night played right into Manchester City’s hands.
Manchester City travel to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola will be desperate for his team to win the game, with the chance on offer to leap-frog the visitors in the table.
The Manchester City manager has been under huge pressure at the Etihad this season, after a really challenging 2024/25 campaign on all fronts.
There were even rumours that Pep’s job was under threat.
Whilst that probably wasn’t actually the case, improvements definitely need to be made over the summer.
And finishing inside the top four will be crucial to Guardiola’s hopes of adequately strengthening his ranks at the Etihad.
With that in mind, a win over Forest this weekend will be a necessity.
Nottingham Forest vs Ipswich Town FA Cup clash a big boost for Manchester City
Manchester City need all three points against Forest on Saturday, it really is as simple as that.
The City players should be in a strong position to win the game after the Forest vs Ipswich FA Cup tie went into extra time and on to penalties.
Now, the Forest players will not have just been affected physically by the 120 minutes of action plus penalties against Ipswich.
The toll the the extra minutes and the penalty shoot-out would have taken mentally on Nuno’s players cannot be underestimated.
Man City have struggled badly against aggressive and energetic opponents with a high tempo this season.
Some of City’s best players’ legs have gone, including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan.
Meanwhile, Forest have thrived this term when implementing a high intensity press and playing with real energy and dynamism in central midfield and out on the wings.
The game at the City Ground was seemingly set up for the home side to cause Pep’s boys all sorts of problems.
However, Forest’s FA Cup clash with Ipswich should give Pep and his players a big advantage this weekend.
Man City hot favourites against Nottingham Forest after Ipswich game
In the previous round in the FA Cup before the Ipswich tie, Forest faced Exeter City.
There were around 20 minutes of added time in that game, and then extra time and penalties.
Nottingham Forest won the game in the end, and then faced Fulham in the Premier League four days later in the Saturday 3pm kick-off.
Nuno’s men lost that game 2-1.
This time, there is five days between games for Forest, but the early kick-off will definitely make things more problematic for them.
Manchester City needed a big boost ahead of the huge clash with Nottingham Forest, and they undoubtedly got one after the Tricky Trees’ exertions against Ipswich Town on Monday night.
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