FA Cup: Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City - Betting Tips, Odds & Prediction

On Monday morning at Wembley Stadium, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City will put their individual Premier League runs on hold to face off in an FA Cup semi-final match. 

Each team has previously defeated the other this season. But with silverware at stake, both will be eager to have the last laugh. The two sides have faced contrasting seasons as City have failed to live up to the lofty standards they set for themselves, while Forest find themselves in a surprise run for Champions League football and FA Cup glory. 

Read on for a look at what the top betting sites NZ are saying about this matchup, plus our football betting tips ahead of kick off.

Nottingham Forest

Momentum may have dipped lately, but Forest’s journey under Nuno Espírito Santo has been nothing short of extraordinary. Qualifying for the Champions League would significantly exceed their pre-season objectives, but with the opportunity now firmly in sight, expect the Tricky Trees to throw everything they’ve got at making that dream a reality.

Forest now also find themselves within touching distance of ending a 30-plus-year wait for major honours. Two more victories would see them crowned FA Cup champions for the third time, and their recent 2-1 win at Tottenham provided timely momentum heading into the business end of the competition.

Team News: Taiwo Awoniyi returned from injury with a brief 14-minute run-out against Tottenham, but there’s still uncertainty over Ola Aina’s availability as he continues to struggle with a calf problem.

Predicted Lineup: Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Anderson, Dominguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Manchester City

Football betting sites consider City the favourites to go through as they have shown signs of resurgence lately. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently on an unbeaten streak of seven matches across the Cup and League, but their last defeat did come against Forest in March. 

While clinching Champions League qualification will be high on City's agenda, they’re unlikely to ease off in the FA Cup—it remains their sole remaining shot at silverware this season.

Team News: Erling Haaland and John Stones are the most likely to feature again this season among City’s injury absentees, but neither will be fit in time for this fixture.

Predicted Lineup: Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Kovacic, De Bruyne; McAtee, Foden, Doku; Marmoush.

• Manchester City lost 3-0 when they last played Forest in an FA Cup tie in 2009.
• City have claimed three wins from their last five meetings with Forest, with one defeat and one draw rounding out the record.
• Both teams have scored only once in the last five meetings between these two sides
• City have outscored Forest 8-2 across their last five meetings.

Forest’s disciplined defensive setup frustrated Guardiola’s men when they clashed at the City Ground in March. Callum Hudson-Odoi settled the contest with a second-half strike, shortly after forcing a save from Ederson.

The Tricky Trees will look to adopt a similar approach to keep City’s attackers at arm’s length once again and hit them on the counter. This has proved to be a solid strategy in the past against City and it could work once again.

Despite their recent string of good results, City continue to struggle defensively. In their seven match unbeaten run, they managed to keep a clean-sheet only three times, and those came against lacklustre attacks like Leicester, Man United, and Everton. 

As a result, we are predicting a win for Forest in this match.

Forest to Win 1-0 - $13

We don’t expect this to be a goalfest. Forest should look to keep the Man City attackers at bay throughout the match and hope to nick something from the rare openings they manage to carve out. 

PlayUp is offering a 13x return for Forest to win 1-0, which we believe is a fantastic deal to consider this week.