Philippe Clement is unhappy at only being able to make three changes to his Europa League squad following a transfer window which left him “happy”.
The signing of Colombian winger Oscar Cortes on loan from Lens with an option to buy in the summer on deadline day was the third new recruit, following the arrival of Portuguese attacker Fabio Silva on loan from Wolves and Ivorian midfielder Mohamed Diomande on loan from Danish side Nordsjaelland.
Defenders Ridvan Yilmaz and Leon Balogun were left out of the Euro squad at the start of the season by then boss Michael Beale but have become key players under Clement.
Abdallah Sima, Kemar Roofe, Danilo and Kieran Dowell are long-term injured but could be fit for the latter stages of the Europa League if Rangers progress.
Ben Davies is out at the moment while Sam Lammers has joined Utrecht on loan and Jose Cifuentes could also be on his way out, the midfielder linked with a loan move to Brazilian club Cruzeiro.
Ahead of the cinch Premiership game against Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday – Rangers are five points behind leaders Celtic with a game in hand – Clement revealed he had spoken to his players about the Euro squad for the last-16 ties in March.
The Belgian boss said: “I had discussions with the players about that this afternoon.
“I am not happy with the rule. But the rule is the rule of course for all the team and I also understand the idea behind it.
“I was not totally aligned with how the European list was at the beginning of the season but it was what it was and I can only make three changes now.
“So the reality is a few players I wanted on the list cannot be on the list.
“If you only have three position to change there is not much to think about but if you guys (media) think a bit logically, you will see the logic.”
Some Rangers fans expressed surprise that another striker to give competition to Cyriel Dessers was not brought in but Clement, who took over the Light Blues in October, explained his thinking.
He said: “I will never speak about what we wanted.
“Everyone in the building worked really hard and compared to a lot of other teams we did interesting things with the three guys we brought in.
“I am happy with the squad that is here now.
“About the striking position, everyone is saying that Cyriel has had a big evolution in the last three months, Fabio has already shown good things, he is still adapting, that is normal.
“Kemar is still in the building, I expect him to be fit this this season, we will see if Danilo is back or not at the end of the season, we will not risk him for two or three weeks but he will be in the building next season so we have to take those things into account.
“We also have Zak Lovelace also who has been out injured for three months and he has a bright future.
“So we could have six or seven strikers but you cannot put them all on so you have to take that into account.”
Nuno looking beyond Man City's poor form ahead of clash with Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo insists Manchester City remain a top-quality side despite their poor run of form heading into Wednesday's Premier League contest.
City have gone seven games without a win in all competitions – the longest-such streak in Pep Guardiola's managerial career – with six of those ending in defeat.
Sunday's 2-0 loss at leaders Liverpool leaves the reigning champions fifth and now 11 points adrift of the Reds, but Nuno is looking beyond this poor run of form before facing off at the Etihad Stadium.
"It's the reality of the game – you always have ups and downs," Nuno said. "Every team has to be ready to face those moments of uncertainty when things are not going well.
"It's how long you stay there and how you bounce back from those moments; how you reorganise and improve. Their run doesn't take away the quality and the talent they have.
"Let's not forget, they're the champions and have won so much with such quality players and such a good manager. When you have such quality players and play such good football, for sure they'll turn it around."
Recharge and go again. pic.twitter.com/H5bQhrPL74
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 2, 2024
City are only one point and one place better off than Forest, who put back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Newcastle United behind them with a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at the weekend.
Guardiola, who has won 18 trophies across his eight full seasons as City boss, is determined to battle on having only just signed a new two-year contract.
"I've lived better before than now," he said. "But I'm incredibly honest with myself and, when we were winning a lot, my perspective was I was fortunate to live that.
"Now I'm not depressed that everything is going bad. When I think I cannot do it we will talk with the club but I feel that I want to do it and life is not in all departments perfect."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City - Erling Haaland
Haaland has failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games for City, although he does still have 15 goals in his past 11 games at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions.
The leading Premier League top scorer this season, who has 12 goals in 13 matches overall, has also netted four times in two games on home soil against Forest.
Nottingham Forest - Chris Wood
Wood scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Ipswich via the penalty spot and also has 12 goals in his past 13 away Premier League away games for Forest.
The New Zealand international is looking to become the first Reds player to score in four successive away games in the competition, and the first in the English top flight for the club since Garry Birtles in 1983-84.
Ready for more? pic.twitter.com/zpomnE4CtA
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 2, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
City have conceded three-plus goals in both of their past two home games in all competitions, which they last managed in 1963 when going on to be relegated from the top flight.
Guardiola's men may be in poor form, but they are unbeaten in their past eight league games against Forest stretching back to a 3-2 loss in the second tier in December 1997.
Forest have also lost their past four away league games against City by an aggregate scoreline of 12-0, while they are winless in their past seven top-flight visits since 1989.
The Reds have lost their past five away games against reigning top-flight champions by an aggregate scoreline of 21-2, meanwhile, since beating Manchester City 2-1 in December 1994.
If the omens were not already stacked against Forest, opponents City are unbeaten in their past 31 home Premier League games on a Wednesday, winning each of the past 20.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Manchester City win - 66.8%
Nottingham Forest win - 14.8%
Draw - 18.4%
Slot's flying Premier League start unprecedented, claims Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips has been blown away by Arne Slot's remarkable start as Liverpool head coach.
Slot took over ahead of the season following Jurgen Klopp's departure.
Having enjoyed success at Feyenoord, Slot has hit the ground running at Anfield.
He has lost just one game so far, with Liverpool leading the Premier League by nine points, while they are top of the Champions League standings with a perfect record and are into the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
Slot's Reds are averaging 2.3 goals per game, while conceding just 0.6 on average, and former England international Wright-Phillips has been hugely impressed.
"I don't think I have [seen such a strong start]. He's done tremendously well in so many phases of the game," Wright-Phillips told Stats Perform.
"If you think of Klopp's style — high-risk, high-energy football — Slot hasn't changed too much but doesn't risk the ball as much.
"They still play a similar direct style, as we saw against City. It seemed like they went direct more often than in previous games.
"He seems to have a great handle on it. It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back after the Christmas period, which will be tough with Champions League games and back-to-back Premier League fixtures.
"He may not be used to playing that regularly, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles this period."
Liverpool are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, which is their biggest lead in the competition since they won the title in the 2019-20 season.
According to the Opta supercomputer, the Reds now have an 83.7% chance of going on to win the title.
Roma 0-2 Atalanta: De Roon and Zaniolo make it eight Serie A wins in a row
Nicolo Zaniolo scored against his former side as Atalanta defeated Roma 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Monday to make it eight Serie A wins in a row and move within one point of leaders Napoli.
Marten de Roon opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that heavily deflected in off Zeki Celik, before substitute Zaniolo sealed the points in the final minute with a glancing header.
Claudio Ranieri was taking charge of Roma on home soil for the first time since returning for a third spell in charge and saw his side start brightly, with Leandro Paredes testing Marco Carnesecchi and Manu Kone firing just wide.
Atalanta had an Ademola Lookman goal ruled out for offside before half-time as they started to assert a little more authority on the game.
Artem Dovbyk was next to go close for Roma, forcing Carnesecchi into a good save, but Atalanta captain De Roon found the breakthrough at the other end when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mile Svilar.
Zaniolo then got his head to Juan Cuadrado's corner for Atalanta's second, which he did not hold back on celebrating with the travelling fans, as 15th-placed Roma were condemned to a fourth league loss in a row for the first time in 16 years.
EIGHT IN A ROW! #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/8UQPlAsiXf
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 2, 2024
Data Debrief: Game goes way of the form book
This is only the second time Atalanta have ever won eight Serie A matches in a row, having previously done so between February and July 2020.
Roma's form could not be any more contrasting, as they have lost four on the spin in the league for the first time since 2008 under Luciano Spalletti.
I Giallorossi have now picked up just one point from their past four Serie A fixtures against Atalanta, losing four and drawing one of those encounters.
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