Oliver Glasner’s reign as Nottingham Forest manager commences on Saturday afternoon when the East Midlands outfit host Leeds United at the City Ground in the Premier League.

Forest parted ways with former boss Vitor Pereira earlier this summer, despite the Portuguese delivering impressive results at the end of last season. This surprise dismissal was enacted to pave the way for Glasner, who led Crystal Palace to multiple pieces of silverware over the last two seasons, and Forest supporters will hope he can recreate this winning formula in Nottingham.

Leeds are preparing for their second season back in the top flight after securing their safety towards the end of last season. The name of the game will be consolidation for Daniel Farke’s side, as they look to establish themselves as a secure Premier League club once again.

GIVEMESPORT has taken a look at the team news for both sides and how they could line up on Saturday…

Nottingham Forest Team News

Glanser bemoaned a lack of squad depth for much of his time at Selhurst Park, but he shouldn’t have this issue at Forest, as he inherits a deep roster of players at the City Ground. Almost all of these players are fit and available heading into the new season.

That said, full-back Nicolo Savona faces a late fitness test to determine his availability for the encounter with the Whites. The Italian is suffering from a knee injury and hasn’t featured in any capacity since January.

Speaking to the media a few weeks ago (via the Nottingham Post), Glasner provided an update on Savona, as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo, both of whom were absent but are now back in the fold.

Predicted Nottingham Forest XI

Glasner is expected to run out the 3-4-3 formation he used at Palace. New signing Ousmane Diomande has been added for exactly this reason, having played in this system under Ruben Amorim at Sporting CP. He’ll be deployed alongside Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic.

Ola Aina and Nico Williams are expected to replicate the roles of Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell at Palace, while new signing Xaver Schlager will likely make his debut alongside Ibrahima Sangare at the base of Forest’s midfield.

With Taiwo Awoniyi out the door and Chris Wood entering the twilight of his career, Igor Jesus is expected to lead the line for much of this season for Forest, and he’ll be supported by Morgan Gibbs-White and one of Dan Ndoye or Hudson-Odoi.

• Predicted Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Diomande, Milenkovic, Murillo, Aina, Schlager, Sangare, Williams, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Igor Jesus.

Leeds Team News

via Reuters

Unlike Glasner, Farke has a handful of injury issues to contend with heading into his team’s Premier League opener. Wilfried Gnonto is out until early September with a hamstring injury, while left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson is fighting his way back from a suspected hamstring problem and is expected to miss out on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Lucas Perri is recovering from a quad strain, and Ilia Gruev is struggling with a knee injury. Both players are currently being assessed ahead of the trip to the City Ground.

Speaking to the media late last week (via the Nottingham Post), Daniel Farke provided an update on what is potentially the most damaging of these absentees: Gudmundsson.

Predicted Leeds XI

Farke is expected to persist with the back three that served him well for much of last season. James Trafford will make his Leeds debut behind this three-man defence, which is likely to include new signing Tarik Muharemovic.

James Justin is likely to fill in for Gudmundsson on the left, with Jayden Bogle deployed off the opposite flank. Anton Stach and Ethan Ampadu will resume their partnership in the middle of the park, while Harry Wilson is in line for his debut alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brenden Aaronson in the Yorkshire side’s front three.

• Predicted Leeds XI: Trafford, Rodon, Bijol, Muharemovic, Bogle, Ampadu, Stach, Justin, Wilson, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin.

Tottenham Hotspur can complete a perfect summer transfer window by signing Crystal Palace star Daniel Munoz.

Tottenham stunned their Premier League rivals by wrapping up six quick signings early in the window, and now they are working hard to get at least three more over the line before the September 1 deadline.

Spurs have now agreed a deal worth up to £85m to sign Manchester City winger Savinho, while they are also working on a deal to sign his club teammate, Omar Marmoush, having already agreed personal terms, as Roberto De Zerbi looks to add a new striker to his squad.

The Italian coach still wants another wide player even if he lands the City duo in the coming days, with Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo his top target.

The north London outfit might have to be patient in their pursuit of the Netherlands international however, with the Reds not being open to a sale until they land two new wingers themselves, as they target moves for PSG duo Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, as well as making a bid for Brighton and Hove Albion attacker Yankuba Minteh.

Tottenham’s squad would be close to De Zerbi’s dream if he lands all three, but there is still one gaping hole in the team, and that is competition for Pedro Porro in the right-back spot.

Spurs had more than adequate cover for the World Cup-winning full-back in Djed Spence, but the Englishman has completed a move to Inter Milan this summer.

While Porro is an outstanding player who has just signed a long-term contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, his main back-up to his position as things stand is Archie Gray, who is a central midfielder by trade.

Tottenham Must Seal Daniel Munoz Deal

via Reuters

Tottenham have been linked with new right-backs in recent weeks, but interest has almost taken a back seat as they look to tie up a trio of attacking signings.

Should De Zerbi get the three players the club are currently working to sign, every summer addition will arrive in north London with Premier League experience.

It is a pattern that has continued with right-back links too, with Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams and Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz two players mentioned.

Top Spurs source Paul O’Keefe confirmed earlier this month that the club admire Eagles star Munoz, who has shone at right-back and right wing-back for the south London outfit in recent seasons.

The Colombia international has made more than 80 English top flight outings for Palace since completing a £7m move to Selhurst Park, and has established himself as one of the best in his position in that time.

Munoz may be 30 now, but there are few better options that De Zerbi and Tottenham could sign now to back up a World Cup winner, who offer real quality when they do come into the XI.

Given his age and the fact he has two years remaining on his contract at Palace, there will be an expectation that he wouldn’t cost the world either.

Now they need to get the deal done to complete the perfect summer window.

Manchester United are preparing to take on Hull in their first Premier League game of the season on Saturday afternoon, and Michael Carrick has some big decisions to make.

The Red Devils have had a busy summer with four new arrivals, including a midfield rebuild that has seen Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, while a deal is close to being agreed with Brighton to bring in Carlos Baleba too.

But with a little over a week remaining of the transfer window, there is also a belief that there could be more signings on the way, including additions in the forward department.

Man Utd’s pre-season didn’t go massively to plan. The team won just two of their six games within the 90 minutes, and had many players joining up late with the squad as a result of their participation at the World Cup.

• 0-1 vs Wrexham
• 5-0 vs Rosenborg
• 2-1 vs Atletico Madrid
• 1-1 vs PSG
• 1-1 vs Leeds (won 5-4 on pens)
• 2-4 vs AC Milan

But one of the bigger stories from the team’s preparation was the fact that starting striker Benjamin Sesko hasn’t featured for a single minute in any of the games as he continues to recover from an injury picked up at the end of last season.

While he has since returned to training and could be in the squad against Hull to pick up some minutes, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll get the nod from the start. That would normally mean the backup striker, Joshua Zirkzee, would get the nod to step into the starting lineup. However, that seems unlikely too, with Bryan Mbeumo more likely to get the number nine role.

Mbeumo was the club’s top scorer last season in all competitions, and also during pre-season with three goals, and Carrick showed last season that he is a fan of using the Cameroonian in a central position too.

With Matheus Cunha, Amad, Patrick Dorgu, and Marcus Rashford all available to play on the wings too, it means the team wouldn’t be lacking in attack should the manager choose to go with that once again.

But it does mean that he clearly doesn’t believe in Zirkzee to lead the line for his team, and that is likely to be the end of the Netherlands international’s Old Trafford career.

Zirkzee Future in Carrick’s Hands

REUTERS

Zirkzee’s arrival from Bologna two summers ago was seen as a shrewd signing, but he has struggled with the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

In pre-season, however, he has been impressive, scoring against Rosenborg and Leeds with two well-taken strikes. He links up well with the other forwards in the squad, and holds the ball up well too, while technically he is one of the best at the club.

But after missing out on a spot in the World Cup squad due to a lack of game time, Zirkzee needs regular minutes if he is going to stay. If he isn’t going to be selected when Sesko is out injured, then the chances of regular minutes looks slim.

There is strong interest from Italy in his signature, and an exit would look inevitable if Carrick decides to ignore him as an option once again on Saturday.