Nottingham Forest will end'eavour to pull off an improbable comeback when they travel to meet Ma'nchester United in the second l'eg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wedne'sday night.
The Red Devils have one f'oot in the final courtesy of a domin'ant 3-0 success at the City Ground last week, and either Southamp'ton or Newcastle United will await Erik ten Hag's men at Wembley, assuming' they can avoid a calamitous collapse here.
Failing to win either of their two most recent Premier League matches with Crystal Palace and Arsenal was far from ideal preparation for a cup semi-final, but Man United none'theless notched up three goals - all o'f which came at ideal points in th'e' match - to post a healthy first-leg advantage at Forest's home '.
Marcus Rashford took all of 6 minutes to break the deadlock bef'ore Wout Weghorst came up with his first goal for the Red Devils just before the break, and Bruno Fernandes p'ut t'he cherry on the icing on the ca'ke with 89 minutes played.
No stranger to winning trop'hies during his time in charge of Ajax - who have just sacked his successor Alfred Schre'uder - Ten Hag is now potentially only 180 minutes aw'ay from clinching Man Unit'ed's first piece of silverware since 2017, and the prospect of a 'domestic cup double is still alive to'o.
Indeed, a strong Red Devils XI cru'ised past Reading 3-1 in the FA Cu'p fourth round at the weekend, with Casemiro bagging a b'race alongside an effort for Fred, whi'ch extended Man United's sco'ring streak to a whopping 19 games ac'ross all competitions.
No team to hold a three-goal le'ad from the first leg of an EFL C'up semi-final has ever been elimina''ted, but the more superstitious Man United fans may not be cheering for a vict'ory here, as the Red Devils ha've lost all three of their EFL Cup fi'nals when winning both legs of t'he semis.
Steve Cooper's Tricky Trees will t'ake any glimmer of hope that co'mes their way this week, as Forest ai'm to do what no team has ever d'one before in the EFL Cup by overturn'ing a three-goal deficit in the semi-finals.
The visitors to the Theatre of Drea'ms have enjoyed a full weekend's w'orth of rest and preparation a'fter their humiliating FA Cup thi'rd-round exit to Blackpool, but few memb'ers of the Forest faithful will be dreaming of a remarkable fightb'ack on W'ednesday night.
A semi-final exit would still ma'rk Nottingham Forest's best ru'n in the EFL Cup for 31 years, hav'ing reached the final of the 1991-92 edit'ion before coincidentally losing to Manchester United, but the steadily-impr'oving visitors can still capital'ise on any shreds of complacency from' their more esteemed hosts.
Only two of the Tricky Trees' last five away matches in all competi'tions have ended in defeat, although one of those was a 3-0 loss to Man Uni'ted in the Premier League, and th'ey have netted once in each of their las't three fixtures on the road.
However, that three-goal loss in th'e first leg of their semi-final ma'rked Forest's eighth defeat in a r'ow against Man United across all to'urnaments, and not since the 1994-95 Pre'mier League season have the Tri'cky Trees travelled home from Old Tra'fford with a victory to their na'me.
Man United did not come thro'ugh their win over Reading uns'cathed, as key midfielder Christian Eriksen' left the stadium on crutches aft''er suffering an ankle injury, and the Danish lynchpin has now be'en ruled out for at least three mont'hs.
Eriksen joins Donny van de Beek, Ax'el Tuanzebe, Scott McTominay and Diogo Dalot o'n the sidelines, and Luke Shaw' will also need assessing due to illness, but Ten Hag has confirmed that Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho could bo'th return to the squad he're.
Amid a potential last-minute tran'sfer swoop for an Eriksen stand-in, Fred can expect to fill the ho'le in the engine room for the time be'ing, and Ten Hag may also consi'der handing starts to the likes of Antho'ny Elanga and Alejandro Garn'acho given his side's comforta'ble three-goal cushion.
In eerily similar fashion to Eriksen, Nottingham Forest attacker Morgan Gibbs-White also left the fie'ld with an ankle problem in the first-l'eg loss to Man United, and the for'mer Wolverhampton Wanderers m'an has been ruled out of this 1.
A well-occupied Forest treat'ment room also holds Moussa Niakhate, Giulian Biancone, Taiwo Awoniyi, Cheikhou Kouyate, Omar Richards and Dean Henderson, th'e latter of whom would not be able to face his parent club anyw'ay.
A spot has opened up for ex-M'an United attacker Jesse Ling'ard or Emmanuel Dennis to start for the visitors with Gibbs-White absent, while Ryan Yat'es's status is still unclear after he miss'ed the first leg due to illness - the sa'me goes for Jack Colback.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Marti'nez, Varane, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred; Elanga, Fernandes, Garnacho; Wegh'orst
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Hennessey; Aurier, Worrall, Boly, Lodi; Mangala, Danilo, Freuler; Scarpa; Johnson, Dennis