Manchester United v Nottingham Forest Betting Tips [1 February 2023]

A place in the final is on the line when Manchester United host Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford for the return leg of the EFL Cup semi final. Manchester United stormed out to a 3-0 aggregate lead thanks to their dominant victory at the City Ground last week and they will now look to close things out in front of their home fans. United have turned things around under manager Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman experienced a bumpy start to life as the Red Devils boss. They’re now up to fourth in the standings but trail third-place Newcastle strictly on goal differential. Manchester United have recovered after a disappointing last-minute loss to Arsenal with back-to-back wins; the first leg against Nottingham Forest and a 3-1 home win over Reading in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday. Manchester United are five-time winners of the EFL Cup and have made the final a total of nine times. The last time they lifted the cup was in 2017 when they prevailed over Southampton.

On the other side, Nottingham Forest will have it all to do if they are to turn this tie around after the disastrous first leg. The Tricky Trees will, at least, have the rest advantage here and manager Steve Cooper should opt for his preferred first team 11. The first leg loss snapped what was a positive run of form for Forest after they won two and drew once over their last three matches across all competitions. In fact, Nottingham Forest were on a run of only one loss in six matches with results against Chelsea, Southampton, Leicester and Bournemouth in the Premier League vaulted them up to 13th in the standings and giving them a four point cushion above the drop zone. Nottingham Forest are four-time winners of the EFL Cup with their last triumph coming in 1990. They’ve made the final six times in their club’s history.

The fixtures are piling up for Manchester United with their last fixture against Reading in the FA Cup third round four days prior. They’ll now play their fourth fixture in the past 11 days and manager Erik ten Hag will surely be considering rotating his squad for this one given their commanding aggregate lead. One player they will for sure be without is influential midfielder Christian Eriksen after the Dane left the match against Reading on crutches.

We may see some rotation from ten Hag with Manchester United’s busy fixture list. However, the Dutchman will demand the same level of high-effort regardless of the starting 11 so we shouldn’t expect too much of a dropoff in the ability of the home side. Nottingham Forest have been dreadful away from home this season overall and have been thoroughly dominated by the Red Devils in their two meetings this season. Expect a controlled performance from Manchester United in what likely turns out to be a 1-0 or 2-0 victory. Our Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest prediction: Manchester United to win + under 3.5 total goals