Garnacho has been highly impressive this season having been given a chance by his manager. He has scored two goals and got four assists in limited minutes and has started six games – two in the domestic cups, as well as two of the group stage matches in the Europa League and at Aston Villa and Wolves in the league. In those six matches, he had at least one shot in every game and at least one shot on target in five of them. The only exception to this was his first start against Sheriff Tiraspol where he had two shots. In total he has had 12 shots in those matches, despite playing less than 65 minutes in both league starts as well as just 58 minutes against Burnley. Ten Hag trusted him to play the full 90 minutes against Charlton in his last start where he had four shots – one of which on target. He did not start on the weekend and so should start here. He did come off the bench though and had one shot on target in his 34 minutes.

Brennan Johnson has recently come back into the Nottingham Forest side to great effect, most notably scoring both goals against Leicester in a 2-0 win. This season he has managed 52 shots for club and country, exactly half of which have been on target in 2370 minutes – just over 26 full games. In his last three matches he has had nine shots with five of them on target. The Welshman has faced Manchester United twice already this season, having one shot on target in both games – including last week. He has had at least one shot in 14 of his last 15 appearances (including off the bench), having 18 attempts on target in that time period.

Casemiro has transformed this Manchester United midfield. Whilst his defensive work has been highly applauded, his ability going forward has been impressive too, even if unnoticed. He has managed two goals and three assists in the league already this season and has had 37 shots. He scored twice at home to Reading on the weekend and was taken off in the 72nd minute. The Brazilian has had at least one shot in 12 of his last 15, scoring four goals in that time. Whilst he failed to have a shot against Forest last week, he had two when the two teams met at Old Trafford at the end of December. His minutes may not be guaranteed here but with Eriksen and van de Beek out and McTominay a doubt, he should start here.

Manchester United have played six domestic cup games this season. Under 4.5 cards has landed in five of them, the only exception being their 4-2 win over Aston Villa. There have been 18 cards shown at a rate of exactly three per game on average.

Nottingham Forest have also played six domestic cup games this season. This selection has landed in four of them, and their three away games have seen just seven cards across them. In the reverse leg last week, just one card was shown – to Facundo Pellistri in the 84th minute.

The referee for this game is Peter Bankes who averages 3.79 cards per match across his career, showing five or more cards in just 30.13% of games. In the FA Cup last weekend, he officiated Spurs as they beat Preston 3-0 and showed just one card. Under 4.5 cards has landed in right of his last nine in all competitions. Contextually, Manchester United will be looking for one goal to kill any slim Forest chances of a comeback and if they manage to do that then the game should be played at a much lower pace.