Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United: Three key battles

This one is all about that physical frame and aerial duel. And while Chris Wood may not be the most dominant force when you play him in behind, he is nothing less than a nightmare in the air. The New Zealand international thrives off long balls and second phases (especially in a Sean Dyche system).

While Matthijs de Ligt has that quality to match and outdoWood, his reading of the game and angles going into this kind of aerial duel will be quite important.

Generally Wood can try to lay off on the first pass of Forest Park to the bus, and this is where the Dutchman will be important if United are to prevent Forest from building any kind of momentum in the final third.

Another thing is when Forest have possession out wide or in the pockets, they can try to lob into Wood’s runs. This is where the Ajax academy graduate will have to stick close to him.

Neco Williams vs Amad Diallo

Given that Amad is now trusted more in that starting right wing-back for the Manchester Reds, he will again need to act in quite the same way that he did in the previous games. Maybe against Forest he can hold the width more to give that inside space to Mbeumo. And if they sit more in a compact block, Amad’s dribbles and crosses will become quite important if the Premier League heavyweights are to get the better of that block.

Nico Williams will have to ensure that his 1v1s against Amad are quite protected. He also needs to ensure that he doesn’t find that inside pass into Mbeumo.

Williams is himself good at offensive abilities, but given that he is lining up against a winger playing in that wing-back role, it will be interesting to see how he manages that.

Bruno Fernandes vs Douglas Luiz

The captain was at his best last weekend. He was dictating play and getting into pockets against Brighton. But this will be a different test, coming up against a compact side with someone like Douglas Luiz constantly snapping at his heels. We have seen this many times while he was still at Villa.

While the Brazilian was subbed off at half-time against Bournemouth last weekend, he is still the best bet that Dyche can make at controlling the send phase against someone like Bruno.

Fernandes likes to arrive into half spaces and thrives when he spaces a bit of space, especially given how he has that capacity to find runs of Cunha and Mbeumo upfront. This is why Luiz will be important for Forest.