MANCHESTER CITY had a major scare in their home win over Crystal Palace at the weekend and Premier League new boys Nottingham Forest are the next up at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola's side found themselves two goals against Palace at home and it could easily have been three if they hadn't benefitted from a dubiously disallowed goal from the visitors.
But once they clicked into gear, they – or rather Erling Haaland – destroyed the Eagles and they will be expected to do the same to Steve Cooper's big-spending side.
Forest were given another insight into life in the top flight last week when they were the better side for long periods against Spurs, yet ended up losing 2-0.
They may have won only once since their long-awaited return, but they look equipped to stay up and even trade blows with the big boys on the evidence so far.
However, while you won't get much of a tougher test than a trip to the blue half of Manchester, there are signs Forest could avoid a hammering at the very least from a City side who are nowhere near their best yet.
How the bookies view it
At a best-price odds of 1/10 with SportNation and as low as 1/16 in places, the only place you would bet Manchester City is as part of a coupon.
Nottingham Forest are an enormous 33/1 with Betfred and even the draw is 12/1 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
It's been 21 years since these teams were in the same league and it wasn't the top flight. For what it's worth, City won the last league meeting at Maine Road which gives you an idea how long ago it was.
Forest actually cruised to a 3-0 win in the last meeting between the clubs in the FA Cup in 2009.
Players to watch
Erling Haaland was always going to live up to the hype and the Norwegian goal machine helped himself to a hat-trick against Crystal Palace at the weekend. Despite talk of Guardiola rotating, he will surely start here, but have you ever seen a shorter price of 1/3 – which is the most generous from bet365 – for a player to score anytime?
For Forest, Brennan Johnson proved to be a real livewire against Spurs and he is 15/2 with UniBet to net on Wednesday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Manchester City have twice had to fight back from two-goal deficits in consecutive games and will surely want to make a more positive start this time.
You need to be creative with City to find odds that aren't prohibitive and if they come out of the traps rapidly as can be expected, they can score a couple in the first half and be leading at evens with bet365.
Although City have been involved in a pair of six-goal thrillers in their last two games, they may not repeat that here and with the goals line set high here, a City win and under 4.5 goals looks a good call at 5/6 with Betfred.
This English Premier League match between Manchester City and Nottingham Forest will be played on Aug 31, 2022 and kick off at 19:30. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
