Key events
On the telly, they’ve just been discussing James McAtee, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does tonight. City are now in that spot United were under Alex Ferguson, where clubs buy their players because they know the standard can be too high for good ones to make it and respect the managers who keep them around. He’s got a lovely touch and decent vision, but does he have the ability to impose that? We don’t yet know.
Forest actually did pretty well to keep as many players as they did after last season – and getting £52m+£3m for Anthony Elanga was a remarkable piece of business. I’m not sure Anderson will still be around after the summer, whereas Gibbs-White has a contract – but there surely comes a point at which players don’t trust Marinakis with their careers and just want to up sticks from the upheaval.
Bizarre goings-on in the Conference League – Fiorentina, 3-0 up on Jagiellonia Bialystock from the first leg, are now level at 3-3, Bartosz Mazurek having scored a hat-trick.
Back to Elliot Anderson, how good do we think he is? I like him a lot and have done since before he left Newcastle and perhaps I’m just being old here, but good though he is, when I put him then into historical context, I don’t see him as on the same planet as your Bryan Robsons, Roy Keanes, Patrick Vieiras, Paul Inces and Graeme Sounesseseseses of this world – same goes for Declan Rice.
Elsewhere, Celtic lead 1-0 in Stuttgart so trail 4-2 on aggregate. There are five minutes left – and don’t forget, it’s Ibrox on Sunday.
One Forest first-XIer who doesn’t drop top the bench is Elliot Anderson. On the one hand, I’m certain the manager would like to rest him for the league but, on the other, he can’t run the risk of letting this get close, never mind actually lose, and I guess Anderson and Murillo are the players he reckons he most needs to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Fener, meanwhile, are in the midst of an injury crisis – Ederson, Oosterwolde and the one and only Caglar Soyuncu are out so yes, that is indeed Matteo Guendouzi whose name you see at centre-back – no doubt he already considers himself better than Beckenbauer. Otherwise, Ngolo Kanté is in midfield, while Marco Asensio and Nelson Semedo are on the bench.
Unsurprisingly, Vitor Pereira makes changes – six of them. Out go Milenkovic, Aina, Sangaré, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus; in come Morato, Jair Cunha, Dominguez, McAtee, Yates and Lucca
Teams
Nottingham Forest (5-4-1): Ortega; Williams, Morato, Murillo, Jair Cunha, Hutchinson; McAtee, Anderson, Yates, Dominguez; Lucca. Subs: Gunn, Willows, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Igor Jesus, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Ainoa, Abbott.
Fenerbahce (4-3-3): Tariq; Mert Müldür, Guendouzi, Yiğit Efe, Archie Brown; Kante, İsmail Yüksek, Oğuz Aydın; Nene, Cherif, Kerem Aktürkoğlu. Subs: Engin Can Biterge, Hulusi Ceylan, Asensio, Mercan, Nélson Semedo, Alettin Ekici, Kamil Efe Üregen.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Preamble
There’s something idyllic, cutesy and pure about a football team whose surname is “Forest” – just as there is about the surname “Marinakis”.
No one really wants to dwell on owners – frankly, they’re the opposite of why we’re here. But it’s impossible to talk about Forest without noting that, after they recorded the club’s finest season in generations, the manager who made it possible was binned, likewise his successor, and his successor.
As such, Forest now sit fifth-bottom of the Premier League … but they still boast almost all the players who did so well last season, along with the various they’ve added, Omari Hutchinson and Igor Jesus among them. Or, in other words, they’ve a serious chance of winning this competition, a solid defence, excellent midfield and reliable goalscorer giving them more than most, the combination ideal for knockout football.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg, Vitor Pereira’s boys look good to make the last 16, where Midtjylland or Real Betis await; the question really is whether he can stay in post long enough to preside over it.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
