44 days after their dramatic late win over Fulham, Manchester United are back in Premier League action on Tuesday against Nottingham Forest - and we have all the info you need on how to watch the game in Ireland.
On top of the wait for the return of the Premier League, it's been over 23 years since these two faced each other in the top flight, so it's a hotly anticipated fixture.
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
How to watch Manchester United v Nottingham Forest
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest kicks off at 8pm on Tuesday December 27th at Old Trafford.
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest will be broadcast on Premier Sports in Ireland. The game will be shown on Premier Sports 1, with coverage starting at 7:55pm.
Team news
Manchester United will be without their two World Cup finalists. Lisandro Martinez travelled to Buenos Aires with the Argentina squad to celebrate their World Cup win this week, while defeated finalist Raphael Varane has been afforded some extra time to recover from his efforts in Qatar.
No busquen dinero, busquen gloria!!! En nuestra tierra con nuestra gente. ARGENTINA ARGENTINA ARGENTINA 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/H0MQn5ESwo
— Lisandro Martinez (@LisandrMartinez) December 20, 2022
That leaves Victor Lindelof likely to start at centre-back - it remains to be seen whether Harry Maguire will be involved, after being left off the bench for Wednesday night's League Cup game against Burnley.
Despite missing the World Cup, Jadon Sancho will not be involved, after taking an individual training programme during the break to recuperate. Erik Ten Hag has given no indication of when the Englishman will return.
Reporter: "Do you have any update on Jadon Sancho?"
ten Hag: "No."
Erik ten Hag gives no update on the return of Jadon Sancho 😅 pic.twitter.com/DtXYTTrojv— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 21, 2022
Manchester United will also be missing Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the club last month after his astonishing "exposé" interview with Piers Morgan.
Nottingham Forest will be unable to field their first-choice goalkeeper Dean Henderson, as the shot stopper is at the club on loan from United.
Ex-United man Jesse Lingard, however, could be in contention to face his old team at Old Trafford.
Cheikhou Kouyaté is also missing until March with injury, Giulian Biancone is out for the season, and Moussa Niakhate is unavailable. Neco Williams started ahead of Serge Aurier in Tuesday's League Cup tie with Blackburn, after Aurier picked up a knock.
Form guide
Both sides have played just one competitive game since mid-November, in this week's League Cup 4th round ties.
Forest were in action first, facing Championship side Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday evening. They took an impressive 4-1 win away to Rovers, with Brennan Johnson (2), Jesse Lingard, and Taiwo Awoniyi on the scoresheet.
United also faced Championship opposition, winning out 2-0 against Burnley on Wednesday evening at Old Trafford. Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford were the goalscorers, having returned from World Cup duty.
Right place at the right time for Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi! 💥
The City Ground has ERUPTED! pic.twitter.com/1O52sduvcZ— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 22, 2022
After a difficult start to the season, Nottingham Forest steadied somewhat before the World Cup break, in a run which included a 1-0 win over Liverpool, and a 2-0 League Cup win over Spurs. They did, however, fall to a heavy 5-0 defeat to Arsenal in late October, and sit in the relegation zone in 18th place.
Erik Ten Hag has steadied the ship at Old Trafford, and his side have lost only one competitive game since early October - November's sloppy defeat away to Aston Villa. They sit in 5th place, three points off the top four with a game in hand.
This will be the first time since 1998-99 that Manchester United have faced Nottingham Forest in a Premier League game. The last time they faced off in the top flight, United took a record breaking 8-1 win away at the City Ground, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring four after coming on as a substitute.
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