• City have narrowed Arsenal’s Premier League lead to two points

• Forest looking to drag themselves away from the bottom three

• Recommended bet: Over 2.5 Man City goals

Five straight league victories have put Manchester City in a strong position to mount a title challenge in the New Year and Pep Guardiola will hope his team start their festive programme with three more points at Nottingham Forest.

The Tricky Trees headed into Christmas five points clear of the bottom three despite Monday’s 1-0 defeat at Fulham, and they will look to rediscover the form that helped them to a 3-0 win over Tottenham in their last game at the City Ground.

Team news

Forest’s Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Ola Aina, Chris Wood, Dan Ndoye and Ryan Yates are all injured.

For City, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are on international duty.

Rodri could feature on the bench after a thigh injury, but John Stones is doubtful and Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic and Jereny Doku are all out

The stats

Manchester City have scored 17 goals in their last five league matches.

Forest beat the Citizens at the City Ground last season but that is their only league win against them in their last 10 encounters.

City’s goal tally of 41 goals is 10 more than any other Premier League team this season. 

Pep Guardiola’s side have kept four clean sheets in their last five matches.

Both teams have scored in just three of Forest’s last 15 games.

Forest have scored at least twice in five of their six home matches since Sean Dyche took over.

The latest Nottingham Forest vs Man City odds are available on LiveScore Bet

Prediction

Manchester City have Premier League leaders Arsenal firmly in their sights now after five straight league wins and, after missing out on the title to Liverpool last year, Pep Guardiola’s side are unlikely to let up.

They experienced the dangers of a trip to Nottingham Forest last season when they fell to a 1-0 defeat, but they have the scent of blood in their nostrils and should not slip up this time after scoring 17 goals in their last five outings.

Forest are five points ahead of third-from-bottom West Ham, but they have been struggling with inconsistency in recent weeks, illustrated by the fact they slipped up 1-0 at Fulham on Monday having won their previous game 3-0 against Tottenham.

The Citizens have scored at least three times in nine of their last 13 matches and with no need to take their foot off the gas, they should be able to extend that record on the banks of the River Trent at Christmas.

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The latest Nottingham Forest vs Man City odds are available on LiveScore Bet