Man City vs. Nottingham Forest confirmed lineups: Huge Erling Haaland, Nico O’Reilly decisions made for crucial Premier League clash

Erling Haaland has returned to Manchester City’s starting lineup for this evening’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest at Etihad Stadium.

Haaland was left out of the Citizens squad for last Saturday's 1-0 win at Leeds United due to a “little injury” he picked up in training a few days earlier, but the striker has been passed fit to start against the Tricky Trees.

Nico O'Reilly, meanwhile, was taken off in the second half against Leeds after sustaining a knock to his ankle, and the versatile midfielder is not fully fit to feature this evening, so he has not been selected in City’s squad.

Manager Pep Guardiola has made just two changes to his starting lineup, with O’Reilly and Omar Marmoush making way for Haaland and Phil Foden.

Foden is set to operate in an advanced role alongside Rayan Cherki in behind Antoine Semenyo and Haaland up front, while captain Bernardo Silva will likely move into a slightly deeper midfield role alongside Rodri.

A four-man defence of Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi and Rayan Ait-Nouri will remain intact, protecting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

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Jair Cunha, Dominguez start for Forest as Pereira switches to back five  

As for Nottingham Forest, head coach Vitor Pereira has also made two changes to his starting lineup following last weekend’s 2-1 Premier League defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Pereira appears to have switched to a back five, with Jair Cunha handed just his second Premier League start, and his first since October, joining Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic at centre-back as Ola Aina and Nico Williams continue as full-backs/wing-backs.

Nicolas Dominguez is also recalled to begin in centre-midfield alongside Man City-linked Elliot Anderson and Ibrahim Sangare, with wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Omari Hutchinson dropping down the substitutes’ bench.

Morgan Gibbs-White will wear the captain's armband and is expected to play in an advanced central role alongside striker Igor Jesus. Ex-Man City man James McAtee, meanwhile, is among the substitutes.

Manchester City starting lineup: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, Bernardo; Foden, Cherki; Semenyo, Haaland

Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Doku, Gonzalez, Savinho, Khusanov

Nottingham Forest starting lineup: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Jair Cunha, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Sangare, Dominguez; Gibbs-White, Jesus

Subs: Gunn, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Netz