Winless Nottingham Forest meet a Man City side conceding every game
Nottingham Forest's goal drought, Man City's leaky defence and five recent meetings, assessed ahead of Saturday's game at The City Ground.
By Harvey Watkins,
Nottingham Forest go into Saturday's 17:30 kick-off at The City Ground without a win in five matches, and the more telling figure sits beneath that run: two goals scored. Man City arrive having conceded in every one of their last five. Something has to give, and on recent form it is not obvious which side that will be.
Forest's problem is at the other end
Forest's sequence reads L D L L L, with eight goals conceded and no clean sheets. That is a poor return, but most of the defeats have been narrow. Arsenal and Coventry City each won 1-0 at The City Ground, and only Brentford's 2-0 win on 31 October and the 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace went beyond a single goal.
The sharper concern is scoring. Forest have failed to score in three of the five, including both home games. Their two goals came in the defeat at Crystal Palace and the 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town on 23 October, which is also their only point in the run. A side that has gone two home matches without a goal has a lot to prove in front of it.
Man City's numbers are less comfortable than they look
Man City have won two, drawn one and lost two, with 11 goals scored and eight conceded. Read quickly, that looks like a side scoring freely. Five of those goals, though, came in a single game, the 5-1 win over AEK Athens on 20 October. Take that out and the remaining four matches produced six scored and seven conceded.
The middle of the run was the weak part. A 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa was followed by two meetings with Brighton in four days: a 2-2 draw, then a 1-0 home defeat on 31 October. Man City have since won 3-2 at Leipzig on 4 November, a better result, but they again conceded twice. No clean sheet in five, and eight goals let in, points to a defence that can be got at.
Recent meetings
The five most recent meetings favour Man City, who have won three, drawn one and lost one, scoring nine goals to Nottingham Forest's four. Those wins include a 3-0 at home in December 2024 and two away victories over Forest in 2025, by 2-0 in April and 2-1 in December.
Forest's 1-0 home win in March 2025 shows they have beaten this opponent recently, and the most recent meeting, in March 2026, finished 2-2 away from home. Five games across two seasons is not a large sample, but the last two meetings have both been decided by a goal or fewer.
Assessment
Man City are the stronger side on form and on the head-to-head, and Forest's lack of goals is the clearest argument against them. The case for Forest rests on Man City's defensive record: a side that has conceded in each of its last five is not one Forest should expect to keep them out completely. Whether Forest can make that count is a different matter, and their recent finishing gives little reason for confidence.
My view is that Man City are the more likely winners, though Forest's narrow defeats and the 2-2 in March suggest this need not be one-sided.