De Bruyne looks like a player that wants to end his City career on a high and his recent performances mirror those he produced when he was at his very best for Pep Guardiola’s side.

He’s registered 16 shots on target across his 24 Premier League appearances this season, 16 of these have been starts taking his average to 0.99 shots on target per 90. He’s found the target in each of his last four Premier League outings which indicates that he will have opportunities here, especially from distance with Forest’s tendency to sit quite deep. 

De Bruyne was excellent in the first league meeting between these sides at the Etihad. He scored and provided an assist, as well as having three shots on target. De Bruyne didn’t start the reverse league fixture at the City Ground but did have two shots in a 21 minute cameo from the bench.

Ederson is still a doubt for this game which means Stefan Ortega is likely to be in between the sticks for City at Wembley. Ortega is having to make 2.70 saves per game in the Premier League this season across his 13 appearances in the top flight. 

Ortega played in the first league meeting between these sides in which City ran out 3-0 winners, but were still susceptible to the Nottingham Forest break which saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s side draw three saves from the 32-year-old.

Ederson was back in goal for City’s 1-0 defeat to Forest at the City Ground in the most recent meeting between the sides, he was forced into making three saves on that occasion. The head-to-head meetings in particular show that Forest can find a way to get at City here, they are likely to get their opportunities on the break but have shown that this will still be enough to test the City keeper on a few occasions.

Forest actually had more corners than City in the most recent meeting between the sides (3-2). They fell just one short of this mark in the first league meeting between the sides at the Etihad but can use these situations to their advantage with the aerial threats they have. 

Forest are averaging 4.03 corners per game in the Premier League this season across their 33 games in the top flight. This isn’t an astronomical record but is steady enough to suggest that they can hurt City from these situations. Murillo and Milenkovic in particular act as real threats from corners and City have shown vulnerability from corners in recent games, most notably against Crystal Palace who also are quite strong from these situations.

City are conceding 3.38 corners per game in the Premier League this season, an increase on the number of corners they were conceding per game last campaign.

Marmoush has been the most effective January signing in recent times, he’s settled in straight away and looks a real threat with his speed and shot volume. He’s been moved to a number nine role in the absence of Erling Haaland, who is still sidelined with injury, but he’s had no issues in adapting to that role.

Marmoush has scored six goals across his 12 appearances for Man City in the Premier League since joining. He's coped with the intensity of the league well, which players from foreign divisions often struggle with. We’re still waiting to see his creative side with the Egyptian yet to register an assist for City, but there are signs that this isn’t too far away seeing as he’s created 13 chances for them so far (1.27 per 90).

Elliot Anderson has quietly been one of Forest’s best players this season. The former Newcastle starlet who only made the move to Forest for FFP reasons has been excellent in the middle of the park.

He’s averaging 1.43 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season and committed two fouls in the recent meeting between the sides. He lost 11 duels in that game at the City Ground, more than any other player on the pitch, which suggests that the City midfield could cause him a real problem here.

Anderson has picked up six cautions across his 28 starts in the Premier League this season, only Gibbs-White, Dominguez and Ryan Yates have picked up more cautions than the Scotsman this season. Interestingly, these are all midfielders, which suggests that this is a particularly active area of the pitch for Forest when it comes to fouls and cards.

City don’t tend to pick up many yellow cards. This is a natural result of them dominating the ball and as a result not having to engage as much with the ugly side of the game. Their card rate has increased this season with the issues they’ve had in stopping sides breaking with speed against them but it’s still pretty modest.

City have received 56 cautions in the Premier League this season, only Brentford (48) have picked up fewer. Forest sit a bit higher up this table with 67 yellow cards across the same number of games. Forest have been shown more cards than City in both of the head-to-head clashes this season. Forest will likely be without the ball for the majority of this encounter, which will naturally see them undertake most of the defensive work here. 

Matz Sels has been a massive reason for Forest’s success this season, which has been built on defensive resilience. Murillo and Milenkovic just in front of him protect him quite well but Sels has stood up to the task as Forest’s last line of defence.

He’s having to make 3.27 saves per game in the Premier League this season, so we’re looking for a reason for his average to rise slightly in this game. City look like a side that can force this rise with their upturn in form recently and their solid shot on target record across the season as a whole.

Man City are averaging 5.9 shots on target per game in the Premier League this season, only Liverpool (6.3) are finding the target more frequently. City have also struck nine shots on target across two meetings with Forest this season.