2 weeks Ago
In the second of this year's FA Cup semi-finals, a Manchester City side bidding to reach the final for a third straight season take on a Nottingham Forest team seeking a first appearance in the showpiece event since 1991 on Sunday. While Liverpool could officially wrestle the Premier League crown out of the Citizens' grasp at the exact same time on Sunday afternoon, Pep Guardiola 's men can take a giant step towards salvaging an underwhelming season with a slice of silverware. The Sky Blues are competing in the semis for the seventh year in a row - a feat no other team has ever managed - thanks to their 2-1 beating of Bournemouth in the quarter-finals late last month.
Meanwhile, Nuno Espirito Santo 's side have prevailed on penalties in each of the last three rounds, taking down Ipswich Town, Brighton & Hove Albion and Exeter City in such circumstances after an opening success over Luton Town. Here, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two clubs. Previous meetings: 106 Man City wins: 44 Draws: 28 Nott'm Forest wins: 34 A head-to-head that first took place a few days before the 20th century began - a 2-0 Division One win for Nottingham Forest in December 1899 - there have now been 106 competitive meetings between Manchester City and the Tricky Trees.
Despite the current gulf in class between the two squads, City only have marginal superiority in the wins column with 44 successes compared to 34 wins for the Garibaldi, and another 28 meetings have ended without a victor. Nuno Espirito Santo's men were deservedly triumphant at the City Ground in March 2025, though, earning a 1-0 success courtesy of a Callum Hudson-Odoi winner as they strengthened their case for Champions League football. However, Pep Guardiola's side have mostly enjoyed the better of this fixture since Forest returned to the big time in 2022, taking 13 points from their last six Premier League battles courtesy of four victories, one and two defeats.
It was a home match against the Tricky Trees in December 2024 where City ended their embarrassing seven-game winless run in all tournaments, hitting three past Santo's men without reply on a night where Kevin De Bruyne shone brightest. The reigning champions also comfortably defeated Forest 2-0 home and away in the 2023-24 season, prior to which they did have to settle for a 1-1 draw at the City Ground in February 2023, as Chris Wood levelled late for the Garibaldi. Forest found themselves on the wrong end of a six-goal slaughter during their visit to the Etihad in August 2022, though, as Erling Haaland struck a 38-minute hat-trick, his second in two games after also bagging three against Crystal Palace four days before.
That 6-0 triumph for City ended a 13-year spell without a competitive showdown between Forest and the Citizens since a 2009 FA Cup third-round clash, which the Nottinghamshire side won comfortably 3-0. Despite only facing Forest six times in his career so far, Haaland is already the joint second-highest scorer in matches between City and the Tricky Trees with five efforts, just one short of outright record holder Niall Quinn (six)..
