Our prediction for this Premier League match:
Manchester City and Nottingham Forest face each other in a David-vs-Goliath clash at Etihad Stadium on day 5 of the new Premier League campaign. The Citizens came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at the weekend, with summer signing Erling Haaland scoring a hat-trick. The Norway international has already started paying off, and, no doubt, he will prove a handful for the opposition back-line. Defensive duo Aymeric Laporte – Nathan Ake remains in the recovery room, while midfielder Jack Grealish is a major doubt, and he will be assessed ahead of the kick-off.
The Reds, on the other hand, failed to shock Spurs at the weekend, and they face yet another uphill task in the midweek clash. As previously mentioned, David faces Goliath at Etihad Stadium, meaning that anything but a routine win would be a major surprise. Both Niakhate and Richards are sidelined with injuries for the away side.
Highlighted Player (Nathan Ake):
Ake is a professional footballer who plays for the Dutch National Team and AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The versatile defender who was born on the 18th of February, 1995, started his youth career in 2003 with local club ADO Den Haag. He then moved to Feyenoord in 2007 before joining Chelsea's youth academy four years later.
Ake made his first professional appearance at the age of 17, playing for the Blues in a 0-1 away victory against Norwich on the 26th of December, 2012. Barring a few starts and substitute appearances, Ake spent his next few years at Chelsea mostly in the reserves before being sent out on a one month loan to Reading in 2015. Upon his return, he immediately joined Watford on a season-long loan where his displays earned him the Watford's young player of the season award. Another successful loan spell at Bournemouth succeeded his time at Watford before Chelsea recalled him in January 2017.
At the start of the 17/18 season, the 24-year-old rejoined his current club Bournemouth permanently on a five-year contract worth 20 million pounds. On the International stage, Ake has represented the Netherlands at every youth level and has even captained the under-17 and under-19 sides. He made his first senior appearance on the 31st of May, 2017, featuring in Hollands 2-1 friendly win over Morocco.
Highlighted Team (Nottingham Forest):
Nottingham Forest, the club that are often referred to as Forest, were formed in 1865. They have been playing their home games at the City Ground since 1898 and the capacity of the stadium is 30,445. Nottingham Forest are regarded as one of the greatest English clubs as they won the European Cup on two occasions. In 1979 Forest outplayed Malmo (1-0) at the Olympiastadion in Munich in the final of the elite competition, with the team beating Hamburg in 1980 in the title game at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu (1-0).
Nottingham Forest won the national championship in the 1977/1978 season, with the team finishing the campaign seven points clear of second-placed Liverpool. To make things even better for the fans, the City Ground outfit clinched the FA Cup trophies in 1898 and 1959. Derby County are regarded as Forest’s bitterest rivals and the two local rivals contest in the East Midlands derby. In their first ever meeting in the local derby Forest recorded a 3-2 win over Derby County.