by 19:24
The last time these two teams met was at the City Ground
That was 24 years ago… and Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a substitute started a riot.
The Norwegian came on as a substitute with 18 minutes left and scored four goals in 14 minutes. Forest finished their lowest season in the league with just seven wins.
19:12
How did they get here
Manchester United
Third round: 4-2 vs Aston Villa
Fourth round: 2-0 against Burnley
Quarterfinals: 3-0 against Charlton Athletic
Nottingham Forest
Second round: 0-3 against Grimsby Town
Third round: 2-0 against Tottenham Hotspur
Fourth round: 1-4 against Blackburn Rovers
Quarterfinals: 1-1 (4-3 on penalties) against Wolverhampton Wanderers
19:07
Team news:
Nottingham Forest
Starting XI: Hennessy, Worrall, Gibbs-White, Surridge, Johnson, Freuler, Aurier, McKenna, Danilo, Scarpa, Lodi
Substitutes: Smith, Cook, Mangala, Williams, Colback, Lingard, O’Brien, Dennis, Boly
Manchester United
Starting XI: De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Martinez, Malacia, Casemiro, Eriksen, Antony, Fernandes, Rashford, Weghorst
Substitutes: Fred, Varane, Heaton, Pellistri, Williams, Elanga, McTominay, Garnacho, Mainoo
19:01
Erik ten Hag arrives in the city
Often a stern-looking man, Mr. Ten Hag.
Team information will be posted shortly.
6:52 p.m
What are they all playing for?
Forest and United are the two most successful clubs in the history of the competition, with the latter winning them five times and the former four times, for a total of 15 final appearances.
16:22
Good evening
Welcome to our live coverage of the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. It may be an exaggeration to say Newcastle United have one foot in the final at Wembley after yesterday’s 1-0 win over Southampton, but tonight both sides have a chance to take a big step towards trophies.
Apparently Manchester United are the big favorites to win the overall draw and Forest are the outsiders today with 5/1, with a 3/1 draw and an 8/13 away win. The last time the two met in the league was on 27 December when United won 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Since a painful 4-0 defeat to Leicester in early October, their domestic form has been quite decent for a newly promoted side with 16 matches played, six wins, six draws and four defeats. They were helped by reaching their first domestic semi-final since the 1991/92 League Cup, when they eventually lost in the final to tonight’s opponents (below).
After a shaky start to their first Premier League campaign in decades (four points in their first eight games), they are now 13th and six points clear of the relegation zone after picking up 17 points from their next 12 games. still fighting for survival.
Manchester United have also been experiencing a resurgence recently, although their start to their domestic season has been a bit shorter. Erik ten Hag has turned a club in crisis into a team that at least looks like it knows what it’s doing. They are far from a finished article, and some areas need addressing. Sunday’s 3-2 defeat to Arsenal highlighted these shortcomings and how far behind the league leaders they are.
Still, while league progress is a benchmark, the club has not won a trophy since the 2017 Europa League (which followed the League Cup the same season and the FA Cup the previous season). As Erik ten Hag said last week, this is unacceptable for a club of this size and history and the Carabao Cup gives them a chance to win trophies over the next month.
Kick off is at 8pm and I’ll be here for all the preparations, latest updates and tie-in reactions.
