Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest LIVE Updates, watch live ...

For the first time in 39 days, Manchester City have won a game of football. Pep Guardiola’s side beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to snap a seven-game winless run (0W-1D-6L), the longest such run of his managerial career.

WATCH — Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest full match replay

The victory moves Manchester City (26 points) back into the top-4 of the Premier League table (for the time being) after they slipped to 5th following their defeat to leaders Liverpool at the weekend. Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doky scored the goals and Stefan Ortega recorded Man City’s first clean sheet since they last won a game (Oct. 26, 1-0 over Southampton).

As for Forest, their dream start to the season could quickly turn into a very rude wake-up call, with Man City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Brentford and Tottenham one after another until Boxing Day.

Too late for Man City to get back in title race?

It all depends on when Liverpool experience their inevitable wobble this season. They are far from perfect with an imbalanced squad of their own, and and at some point this season they’re going to give up a bunch of goals on the counter in a very short time. The gap is now 9 points with 24 games left to play after the Reds drew Newcastle 1-1 on Wednesday, which means there’s still time to close the gap but they need to start making headway soon. Liverpool have potentially tricky fixtures against Everton (on Saturday) and Tottenham at the same time City play their own local derby and make a trip to Aston Villa. City can still achieve a points total greater than Liverpool’s current pace (95 points); but they can only drop two points the rest of the season. Pep was probably right that City are out, and keep in mind that Arsenal are right on the leaders’ heels yet again.

Player ratings - Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest

What’s next?

• Crystal Palace vs Manchester City — Saturday (10 am ET)
• Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest — Saturday (12:30 pm ET)

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest live updates - by Andy Edwards

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest final score: 3-0

Goalscorers: Bernardo Silva (8'), Kevin De Bruyne (31'), Jeremy Doku (57')

GOAL! Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest: Jeremy Doku finds a lane to goal and scores (57')

GOAL! Man City 2-0 Nottingham Forest: Kevin De Bruyne fires home from acres of space (31')

GOAL! Man City 1-0 Nottingham Forest: Bernardo Silva touches home Kevin De Bruyne’s header (8')

Manchester City starting lineup

Ortega - Dias, Ake, Gvardiol - Akanji, Gundogan, Silva, De Bruyne - Doku, Grealish, Haaland

Nottingham Forest starting lineup

Sels - Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno - Yates, Dominguez, Gibbs-White - Elanga, Silva, Wood

How to watch Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 2:30pm ET, Wednesday (December 4)Venue: Etihad Stadium — ManchesterTV Channel: PeacockStreaming: Watch live on Peacock

Following their 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday, the four-time reigning champs are now 11 points behind leaders Liverpool. City looked a shadow of their usual selves as they hardly created a chance at Anfield, with some shaky defending underlining their awful recent form. City are without a win in their last seven games in all competitions, losing six of those. They badly need to get back on track at home against Forest.

As for Forest, well, they’re solid and reliable and dug deep to beat Ipswich 1-0 at home on Saturday. Chris Wood, who has nine goals so far this season, scored the winning goal from the penalty spot and he sums up Forest’s newfound durability. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are tough to break down and are a real threat on the counter and from set pieces as they’re just one point behind Man City going into this game.

Manchester City team news, focus

The likes of Doku, Grealish, De Bruyne and Savinho could all come in to start to give City extra attacking impetus. Guardiola has to find a solution in the holding midfield role. Maybe that is Manuel Akanji moving forward from center back?

OUT: Rodri (knee - out for season), Oscar Bobb (lower leg), Mateo Kovacic (undisclosed) | QUESTIONABLE: John Stones (ankle)

Nottingham Forest team news, focus

Injuries have calmed down for Forest and Nuno has some great attacking options to choose from with Hudson-Odoi, Elanga, Gibbs-White and Jota Silva all pushing to start behind red-hot Chris Wood.

OUT: Danilo (ankle), Ibrahim Sangare (undisclosed)

Manchester City vs Nottingham Forest prediction

This feels like the kind of game where City will be angry and score early to settle things down. It won’t be straightforward but expect them to sneak a win as they try and rebuild some confidence. Manchester City 2-1 Nottingham Forest.