Nottingham Forest v Man Utd: Team news published at 14:16 GMT 1 November
14:16 GMT 1 November
Sean Dyche resists the temptation to make changes to the side that lost at Bournemouth last Sunday, as he looks to win their first league game since the opening weekend.
Former Manchester City youngster James McAtee has still started just once since his £30m summer move.
Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Douglas Luiz, Anderson, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus
Ruben Amorim names an unchanged side as Manchester United chase a fourth successive win, which would move them up to second in the Premier League table.
Harry Maguire returns to the bench after missing last week's victory against Brighton with a minor injury.
Manchester United XI: Lammens, Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw, Amad, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Dalot, Mbeumo, Cunha, Sesko
You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Burnley v Arsenal" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Tottenham v Chelsea", for instance.
Sutton's predictions: Nottingham Forest v Man Utdpublished at 12:34 GMT 1 November
12:34 GMT 1 November
The Nottingham Forest fans seem to be happy with Sean Dyche as manager and I think they will be patient with him - he has that affiliation with the club after starting his playing career there.
I think they might have to wait a bit longer for his first Premier League win, though.
Manchester United have picked up a bit, and Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha are proving me right after I said in the summer they would prove to be great signings.
They bring great variation when they play together - Mbeumo runs in behind, while Cunha comes deep looking for the ball to feet - and they both link the attack so well.
Defensively, there are still problems with United, however.
They have put together a three-game winning streak but they are not at the stage where I trust them to turn up every week, and I can see that run coming to an end here.
Nottingham Forest v Manchester United: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 19:06 GMT 31 October
19:06 GMT 31 October
Matthew Hobbs BBC Sport journalist
Sean Dyche takes charge of his first Premier League home game as Nottingham Forest head coach against a Manchester United side who have won three games in a row for the first time under head coach Ruben Amorim.
BBC Sport examines some of the key themes ahead of Saturday's clash at the City Ground.
United winning with confidence
Amorim puts United's upturn in fortunes down to one of football's most valuable commodities – confidence.
Following the 4-2 win against Brighton at Old Trafford last weekend, Amorim said: "I think (the players) are more confident.
"I think the best game we did this season was against Arsenal (a 1-0 defeat) but then, when you are a little bit more confident, when you have a different spirit, sometimes you have a little bit of luck in certain moments of the game that help you to win."
From matchday three onwards, only Arsenal have picked up more points than United's 15, while Amorim's side are the leading scorers in the division during this period with 14 goals.
A switch in focus to more direct attacks has helped United's cause in recent weeks – particularly utilising long balls from goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who has replaced Altay Bayindir over the last three matches.
Image caption,
United have switched tactics to play long more often in recent matches
Bryan Mbeumo's return to form has also underpinned United's rise to sixth in the Premier League table.
The £65m summer signing's brace against Brighton made it three goals in two matches following one in his opening seven league appearances since joining from Brentford.
Only Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah have been involved in more Premier League goals in 2025 than Mbeumo's 20 and the forward's form is another example of the increasing confidence at Old Trafford.
Dyche lost his first Premier League game as Forest boss 2-0 at Bournemouth last Sunday.
While Dyche later said that Forest had been unable to live with Bournemouth physically, his side's approach at the Vitality Stadium reflected tactics typically associated with the former Everton and Burnley manager.
Forest played 16.9% of their passes long against the Cherries, far higher than their average of 8.5% under Ange Postecoglou, while goalkeeper Matz Sels played 25 long passes versus Bournemouth, the most by a Forest player in a game this season.
Since the start of 2024-25, Dyche's teams (Forest and Everton) have played more long balls than any other Premier League side and recorded the fewest sequences of 10 passes or more.
Image caption,
Forest boss Sean Dyche is known for favouring direct tactics
Such an approach may well suit a squad used to playing direct football under former boss Nuno Espirito Santo to great success, but Forest's failure to score in Dyche's opening league outing is a familiar problem for their manager.
Dyche has now seen his teams fail to score in 10 of his last 14 Premier League games, including nine with Everton.
Among managers to take charge of 150 games in Premier League history, Dyche's goals-per-game ratio of 0.97 is the lowest of them all.
'The balance has been clearly wrong' - Dyche on Forest's goalscoring troublespublished at 12:46 GMT 31 October
12:46 GMT 31 October
Image source, Getty Images
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche says he has to be "realistic" about the club's recent goalscoring troubles and that he and his staff "haven't got magic dust".
Despite finding the net five times in three Europa League matches, Forest are on a run of just one goal in seven Premier League matches - stretching across Ange Postecoglou's short tenure back to Nuno Espirito Santo's final game in charge in August.
"It's certainly a big challenge," Dyche told BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray.
"I'm very experienced nowadays in the Premier League and so are my staff, but we haven't got magic dust.
"You can't just suddenly make people score lots of goals. What you are doing is trying to form a style of play that creates more chances and better chances and then it inevitably comes down to someone putting it in the net.
"It's been an ongoing challenge from last season as well. If you took Woody's [Chris Wood] goals out of it suddenly you go 'woah it's a whole bigger challenge'.
"Towards the end of last season going into this season, if you look at the facts and stats - just to share it honestly there is no brushing it under the carpet.
"We have to look honestly at what the group were, are, and what we have to change it to. We have to be realistic and equally look at the talent we've got and think how can we form more chances and a better quality of chance with what we've got while keeping the back door unlocked - which they did so well last season.
"We have to find the balance but the balance has been clearly wrong since the end of last season to the beginning of this season where the team has not scored as many and conceded more.
"That has been apparent to everyone and now it's our job to tighten up both boxes because that's where the real stuff happens.
"That's the biggest thing we're trying to fathom - what makes us good in our box defensively and what can allow us the freedom to go and attack and create more chances.
"That's what we're trying to sort out here."
Readers can digest on the post below where Colin Fray said the Reds' scoring record is a "horrendous statistic" and brings with it a significant hurdle when battling relegation.
One goal in past seven league games is 'horrendous statistic'published at 09:26 GMT 31 October
09:26 GMT 31 October
Image source, Getty Images
BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray says Nottingham Forest's run of scoring just one goal in their past seven Premier League games is a "relegation statistic".
Forest's only goal in this period was a Neco Williams strike in a 1-1 draw against Burnley under Ange Postecoglou in September.
Sean Dyche confirmed on Thursday that Chris Wood will not be fit to face Manchester United on Saturday and summer signing Igor Jesus is yet to open his Premier League account, despite scoring three times in the Europa League and twice in the Carabao Cup.
"It's got to be worry - scoring goals is what it is about," Fray told the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast.
"When you add in pre-season, where they barely scored a goal, this has been going on for some time.
"The outlier at the minute seems to be that opening-day win over Brentford when they scored three goals in half an hour.
"To have gone seven Premier League matches, under three different managers, scoring only one goal is a horrendous statistic.
"It is definitely one that will be worrying Dyche. Yes, they're scoring goals in the cup competitions, but it's not many from open play.
"There is an issue with the number of goals scored and, in recent games, chances created. Against Bournemouth, they created very little.
"There were a couple of games in the early stages under Postecoglou where it was chance after chance so maybe it is a little bit of a confidence issue as well."
Fray added: "There is a bit in Forest where they are just not getting the ball into the penalty area when they are in the situation where they might be able to, or as much as Dyche would want them to.
"They are perhaps looking up and seeing nobody to aim at, or have only got the striker up there with no midfielders getting forward.
"It's a combination of all these factors that is leading to a drought in front of goal in the league.
"It's a relegation statistic - if you can't score goals, you have no hope."
