Nottingham Forest – Manchester City: The Citizens Kept The Title Race Tight With Arsenal (1-2)

Pep Guardiola, packing up midfielders in close proximity and stretching the width, relying on his fullbacks, pulled apart Sean Dyche's zonal defense to generate inroads down the inside channels. However, quick attacks remained a double-edged sword for Manchester City as they looked unable to halt Forest transitions.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

After the November international break, Manchester City capitalized on Arsenal's draw against Chelsea and defeat against Aston Villa to reduce the difference to two points. Since the last loss against Newcastle United, Pep Guardiola's team had not given up a single point in the Premier League. Additionally, they improved their situation in the UEFA Champions League, jumping up to fourth place with thirteen points.

In the buildup to the Nottingham Forest game, transfer news reported that Manchester City is on its way to add Antoine Semenyo to their squad. The Ghanaian professional appeared to favor the Citizens over their rivals in the city, Manchester United. The good news for Guardiola's team extended to Rodri's return to joining the squad, traveling to Nottingham since featuring against Bournemouth at the beginning of November.

Pep Guardiola started the game with Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly joining Ruben Diaz and Josko Gvardiol at the backline. Nico Gonzalez partnered with Tijjani Reijnders and Bernardo Silva in midfield. Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki operated behind Erling Haaland.

Sean Dyche inducted Murillo and Nikola Milenković at the heart of the defense, with Neco Williams and Nicolò Savona as fullbacks. Nicolás Domínguez partnered with Elliot Anderson in the pivot. Omari Hutchinson and Callum Hudson-Odoi hugged . . .