Manchester Metropolis go searching for a seventh consecutive win in all competitions, internet hosting relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. BBC Sport examines among the key themes earlier than Wednesday’s match (19:30 GMT).
Semenyo shining for Metropolis
No Erling Haaland, no downside. Manchester Metropolis have been with out their high scorer for the go to to Leeds – town the place the Norwegian was born – however nonetheless recorded one other necessary victory to maintain the stress on leaders Arsenal.
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Maybe it ought to be no shock. Metropolis have gained 14 of the 18 top-flight fixtures Haaland has missed since arriving in 2022, shedding solely twice.
Supervisor Pep Guardiola hailed the end result as a “large victory”, praising his group’s “unbelievable focus” after surviving sustained late stress at Elland Street. Grinding out victories has turn out to be one thing of a trademark for this present Metropolis facet, who’ve gained three of their previous 4 league video games by a single-goal margin.
Whereas defender Marc Guehi performed a vital position in Metropolis hanging on to their lead on Saturday, it was fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo who was the match-winner. The Ghana worldwide has scored six occasions in 11 league and cup appearances since becoming a member of from Bournemouth for an preliminary £62.5m, serving to to alleviate the goalscoring burden on Haaland.
Total, he has been straight concerned in 18 Premier League targets this season, scoring 14 and helping 4 extra. Solely three gamers had greater figures previous to the most recent spherical of fixtures.
[BBC]
Can Igor Jesus discover his scoring contact within the Premier League?
Nottingham Forest have misplaced their three Premier League matches on the Etihad Stadium by an combination rating of 11-0 and new boss Vitor Pereira believes his struggling group should “strategy this sport with intelligence”, stressing they should recognise “when it isn’t the time to press”.
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Pereira’s cautious strategy could also be comprehensible given he has not celebrated a Premier League win since final April, when his Wolves facet defeated Leicester 3-0. But when Forest are to remain up, extra leading edge can be wanted. Their tally of 26 targets this season is the second lowest within the high flight, with solely Wolves having netted fewer.
Chris Wooden led the road successfully final time period, hitting 20 Premier League targets, however has not performed since October due to a knee harm. Forest have subsequently turned to Igor Jesus, who joined from Botafogo final summer time for £10m. Whereas the 25-year-old is his facet’s high scorer this season he has struggled to make an influence when it issues most.
Ten of his 12 targets have are available in cup competitions, the place he has demonstrated elite ending, scoring with 35.7% of his pictures and outperforming his anticipated targets determine by greater than 4.
Nevertheless it has been a really totally different story within the Premier League. Whereas he has tried 50 pictures, solely 10 have been on the right track and simply two have resulted in targets – a paltry shot conversion charge of 4%.
[BBC]