Nottingham Forest will be hoping to snap their 10-game losing streak when they welcome Manchester United to the city ground on Sunday.
Since his comeback, injured Forest player Taiwo Awoniyi has been progressively regaining his form, and Emmanuel Dennis has lately regained his place in Steve Cooper’s starting lineup.
Although the Tricky Trees have suffered three losses to United in their three meetings this season, the tie is anticipated to be a bigger fish for them.
But the Welsh manager, who has lately been associated with several firing speculations, will be seeking to establish himself as his team welcomes Erik ten Hag’s team to West Bridgford.
On the other hand, the Red Devils are attempting to recover from their discouraging draw with Sevilla in the Europa League quarterfinals, which happened to be a crucial match for the two sides.
Due to this, Soccernet.ng explores how Cooper will set up Awoniyi, Dennis and his other players versus United later this evening.
Dennis and Awoniyi in the Forest line
Cooper is anticipated to start Keylor Navas as goalkeeper, Felipe and Joe Worrall in the centre of the defence, and Neco Williams and Harry Toffolo at fullback in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
He may decide to use Remo Freuler’s influence and leadership skills in addition to combining Orel Mangala and Danilo in his defensive midfield.
Due to the absence of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez from Manchester United’s defence, their improvised back line is unlikely to be keen on tackling the Nigerian’s physical attributes.
A trio of players like Dennis on the left, Morgan Gibbs-White at his preferred number 10, and Brennan Johnson on the right would be anticipated to create all kinds of issues as Awoniyi would be expected to lead the line in the assault.
Here is how a predicted Nottingham Forest Xi could look:
