4 Tips for Wednesday’s League Cup Semi-Final - 25/1/23

On Wednesday night, Nottingham Forest hosts Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, with Erik ten Hag’s men coming in as favourites to progress across the two legs.

New signing Wout Weghorst will be looking to open his account as a United player, having had two goalless matches so far. The 30-year-old Dutch striker memorably bagged a brace against Argentina at the World Cup in December and managed to score eight goals and create four assists in 16 Turkish Super Lig matches for Besiktas.

So far this season, Bruno Fernandes has received eight yellow cards across all competitions, while Forest’s summer signing Remo Freuler has been shown three yellow cards in 15 Premier League matches.

Brazilian midfielder Casemiro will return to United’s starting line-up having been suspended for their costly 3-2 loss against Arsenal on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has scored two goals and created four assists across all competitions since joining United and has managed three shots on target in his last five Premier League matches, including one against Forest.

Forest striker Brennan Johnson has been in good form of late, having managed to score two goals and create two assists in his last three Premier League matches, while also bagging a brace in his side’s Round of 16 League Cup win over Blackburn Rovers.

Marcus Rashford has been United’s main attacking threat this season, with his stunning strike against Arsenal taking his tally to 17 goals and six assists across 28 games at club level. No player has scored more goals than the 25-year-old since the World Cup, having bagged nine times, including one against Forest.

United come into this match as favourites due to the overall quality of their players and will expect to bounce back from their loss at Arsenal with a victory here.

In the Red Devils' last five matches, the Both Teams to Score market has landed four times, with the only exception being in their 3-0 win over League One outfit Charlton Athletic. When these two sides met at Old Trafford last month, they both had nine corners each, while United were shown three yellow cards to Forest’s one.

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