Carabao Cup: How to watch Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd live in the semifinals on January 25, 2023

Topics: TV Schedules, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Carabao Cup

The Red Devils will visit Steve Cooper's side in the 1st leg of their semifinal encounter as Ten Hag aims to get his hands on silverware in his debut season in England.

The Carabao Cup semifinals are here and Manchester United are one of the four clubs aiming to make the final at Wembley Stadium. Nottingham Forest stands in their way as the newly-promoted club looks to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history: eliminating the mighty Red Devils in the penultimate stage.

The pressure is on Erik ten Hag's side to deliver. The Dutch tactician has spoken about the club's trophyless run in recent interviews, reiterating his desire to bring silverware back to Old Trafford, with the League Cup being their best route this season.

The 20-time English top-flight champions have been impressive on their road to the semifinals, registering clean sheets in the two previous rounds. Those two games came against Burnley, who are top of the Championship table, and Charlton Athletic, with the Red Devils scoring five goals in total, three of which came from Marcus Rashford alone.

Prior to that was a showdown with Aston Villa at Old Trafford and that proved to be tricky. Ten Hag's men went a goal down twice but fought back on both occasions before Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay scored to secure a 4-2 victory.

It should be noted, however, that the visitors head into the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals on the back of a defeat. In fact, Rashford and Co. are winless in their last two games, drawing 1-1 away to Crystal Palace last Wednesday before losing at Arsenal in Sunday's stellar fixture.

Marcus continued his brilliant goalscoring form and broke the deadlock but after equalizing, the Gunners went on to dominate that game and triumphed 3-2, with Eddie Nketiah scoring the winner at the end of normal time.

Nonetheless, that was only their first defeat since returning to action after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Given that they smashed Nottingham Forest 3-0 when they met recently in the league, Manchester United will fancy their odds of taking a first-leg advantage.

As for the home side, they too have enjoyed a turnaround this season. While the Red Devils bounced back from their back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Brentford, Nottingham Forest were staring at relegation not too long ago.

Cooper's men won only once in their opening 11 games in this Premier League season following their summer spending spree. However, things have taken a turn for the positive since then, with the club losing only twice in their last nine outings, with those defeats coming at Arsenal and—as previously mentioned—Manchester United.

The Reds' path to the Carabao Cup semis was not easy, it should be noted. They overcome the likes of Grimsby Town and Blackburn Rovers but Brennan Johnson and Co. have faced two Premier League oppositions this season, one of which was Tottenham.

Yes, the newly-promoted club had to overcome the North London giants, beating them 2-0 in the third round thanks to goals from Lingard and Lodi. Additionally, their most recent opponent was Wolves in the quarterfinals, a fixture Nottingham Forest won on penalties after drawing 1-1.

The semifinal will take place over two legs, meaning Cooper's men will have to travel to Old Trafford for the return fixture. As a result, the hosts will need to maximize the home advantage in Wednesday's showdown. Having beaten Liverpool at the City Stadium earlier this season, the task will be to take down another English powerhouse.

Team news

Nottingham Forest: Henderson remains sidelined with a thigh issue, meaning Wayne Hennessey will start in goal. Elsewhere, Taiwo Awoniyi, Cheikhou Kouyate, Omar Richards, Moussa Niakhate, and Giulian Biancone are also injured. January signing Danilo made his debut recently but it remains unknown whether he will start this fixture. Chris Wood is cup-tied, having played in this competition this season for Newcastle, but Ryan Yates should feature despite coming down with an illness recently.

Manchester United: Axel Tuanzebe and Donny van de Beek are sidelined but Casemiro is back and available after seeing out his suspension. Scott McTominay, however, will hope for another start but Ten Hag will be without Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, and Diogo Dalot. Garnacho and Malacia, who did not feature in the defeat to Arsenal, might also get into the starting eleven for the first leg.

Key stats

These two clubs have met in the Carabao Cup three times before and Manchester United won on all occasions.
Nottingham Forest have lost their last seven encounters with the Red Devils. Never before have they lost eight in a row against any team.
The newly-promoted side have gone on and progressed to the final every single time they reached the League Cup semis.
The Red Devils boast a five-game winning streak in away matches in this competition.