Pep Guardiola absolutely loves Nottingham Forest quartet – they could be the key to FA Cup glory

Add as preferred source on Google

Nottingham Forest’s squad have proven themselves to be a strong match for Manchester City already this season, with a certain quartet particularly impressing Pep Guardiola.

Forest may not have been expected to be competing so closely with the Cityzens this season, but the Premier League table shows that Nuno Espirito Santo has his side on par with the champions.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	33	24	7	2	75	31	44	79
2	ArsenalArsenal	33	18	12	3	61	27	34	66
3	Man CityManchester City	34	18	7	9	66	43	23	61
4	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	33	18	6	9	53	39	14	60
5	NewcastleNewcastle	33	18	5	10	62	44	18	59
6	ChelseaChelsea	33	16	9	8	58	40	18	57

Because of this, Guardiola will be instilling in his players that they must be at their best on Sunday to overcome the Forest squad, something they couldn’t manage when Forest beat City in March.

The experience will be in the blue corner, given that this is City’s seventh successive FA Cup semi-final, but Guardiola let slip an aspect of the Reds that he admires back in March, one that could haunt his side at Wembley.

Pep Guardiola waxed lyrical about ‘exceptional’ Nottingham Forest stars

It was Callum Hudson-Odoi who scored the game’s only goal in March, latching onto an incredible pass from Morgan Gibbs-White to seal all three points.

Guardiola hailed Hudson-Odoi after the match, but in the buildup, the Spanish tactician paid tribute to all of Forest’s attacking talents in his press conference.

Guardiola said: “The long balls up to Wood, if they win eight to ten, then the four up front are really good and can create many things. [Callum] Hudson-Odoi, [Anthony] Elanga, and [Morgan] Gibbs-White are exceptional players who create many things for themselves.”

Since this game, City have registered interest in Gibbs-White to prove just how keen they are on his talents. However, one of the stars in question actually struggled against City in March and will hope to right this wrong at Wembley.

Chris Wood struggled against Manchester City in March

After struggling in his return from injury against Everton, Wood scored against Tottenham to take his Premier League tally to 19 goals.

However, the Kiwi international was largely ineffective back in March against Guardiola’s side whilst his fellow attacking stars shone.

Wood is the most accurate striker in the Premier League, but limiting him to a single shot on target clearly worked for City, while Wood only had two touches in the opposition box.

It wasn’t an issue in the end as Hudson-Odoi and Gibbs-White combined for the decisive moment, but Wood’s remarkable season will mean that he is desperate to show Guardiola that his praise was warranted.