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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 3
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
Old Trafford
Manchester, England
Saturday, 26 August 2023
Kick-off is at 16h00
Manchester United will need to improve markedly in a bid to extend their seven-match winning streak against Nottingham Forest in the
Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday, August 26.
The Red Devils have looked off the pace in their opening two games of the season, although they managed to scrape a 1-0 home win against Wolves before slipping to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
Erik ten Hag's side enjoyed a better first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and should have been ahead at the break, but Spurs made them pay in the second half with a rampant performance.
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Forest were a hard team to beat last term and they put up a valiant fight against Arsenal on the opening weekend before succumbing to a 2-1 loss.
However, Steve Cooper's side bounced back as they beat newly-promoted Sheffield United 2-1 at the City Ground to get their campaign up and running.
The Reds don't have a particularly good record against United though, with their last victory (2-1) coming way back in December 1994 on home soil.
Bruno Fernandes will be under scrutiny at the Theatre of Dreams after failing to make an impact in North London and missing a sitter in the first half. The Portuguese star didn't exactly lead by example with the armband and was seen moaning at the referee on numerous occasions. Ten Hag will be demanding better from his captain, who had a hand in United's winner against Wolves after playing in Aaron Wan-Bissaka with a sublime pass to cross for Rafael Varane.
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Taiwo Awoniyi has continued where he left off last season, scoring in back-to-back games against the Gunners and the Blades to set a new record for consecutive goals by a Nigerian in the Premier League. The 26-year-old striker is just one shy of equalling an African record held by Mohammed Salah and Emmanuel Adebayor for scoring in seven straight games.
Ten Hag disagreed with the sentiment that Spurs were on top in the second half and praised his players for staying in the fight after falling behind early in the second half.
"I think the team [stuck] together. They didn't collapse, they [kept] fighting, we created chances. I refer to that big chance from Antony [where he hit the post]," the Dutchman said.
"We had some really good attacks and their keeper had some good saves for them. So I don't see that in that way [that Spurs dominated the second half].
"I think when you oversee everything, I think we created more chances, many more chances than Spurs did."
Cooper lauded the mentality of his players to push for the win against the Blades, suggesting the outcome might have been different last season.
"I'm not sure we win that game last year at times, especially at the start of the season. It reminded me a little bit of (the 3-2 home defeats against) Fulham and Bournemouth, so hopefully that is a bit of growth in the mentality of the team," he said.
"I really liked how we stuck to the task, there was only one team who deserved to win. We took our foot off the pedal and gave Sheffield United a chance in the game. I am really glad we regrouped and did what we did in the last 30 minutes."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Man United - 5
Forest - 0
Draws - 0
Matchday 3 fixtures:
Friday, August 25
21h00: Chelsea v Luton Town
Saturday, August 26
13h30: Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur
16h00: Arsenal v Fulham
16h00: Brentford v Crystal Palace
16h00: Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
18h30: Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United
Sunday, August 27
15h00: Burnley v Aston Villa
15h00: Sheffield United v Manchester City
17h30: Newcastle United v Liverpool
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