The Arsenal v Nottingham Forest Preview
After what seems like an eternity, Premier League football is finally back this weekend, with the Arsenal game first up at 1230pm on Saturday.
That means Arsenal will have had less time to prepare than any other teams but Forest will be in exactly the same situation, so there’s no excuses for not taking all three points. With Arsenal’s first defeat of the season coming in the previous game, this game has taken on extra importance as it’s vital that Arsenal return to winning ways with Manchester City up next, followed closely by a tough trip to Newcastle the week after.
Forest, on the other hand, have had a mixed start to the season with one win, one draw and a disappointing home defeat last time out which led to a change in Manager with Nuno being dismissed during the break. A familiar face in Ange Postecoglou will be in the opposing dugout on Saturday lunchtime having only taken a handful of training sessions with his new players, so it will be intriguing to see how Forest setup given the contrast in styles of the two Managers. You would expect that Ange will stick with the team/style that has been so successful for Forest over the past season we can only hope that his attacking instincts takeover and we are affording the space that we saw so often during Tottenham’s games last season. Unfortunately, I doubt we’re that lucky!
Areas of encouragement
When a teams sacks their Manager before they play Arsenal, I’m always concerned about the new Manager bounce but on this occasion, I’m really not that worried. It may seem that this is due to who their new Manager is, given Postecoglou’s struggles with Tottenham last season however, it’s more about style and that fact that we are at home. A key part of Nottingham Forest’s success last season was their style of play as they defended well as a team but were lethal on the transition and that was very much Nuno’s blueprint. I’m fairly certain that Postecoglou won’t try to change this completely but even a small tweak and I don’t think it will work as well.
Looking at Arsenal, there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful. The defeat at Liverpool last time out was a big blow but that was the only goal Arsenal have conceded all season so far and it came from a world class free kick, so they have looked assured defensively so far this season and will be aiming for another clean sheet this week.
Madueke’s form for England during the international break will be another reason for Arsenal fans to be excited as they aim to break down a likely low block from Forest, something which Arsenal struggled with last season.
Arsenal fans will also be hoping for a glimpse at new signing Eberechi Eze if he comes in for his first start in an Arsenal shirt and expectations will be high in relation to what he can bring to these sorts of games.
Areas of concern
The first game after an international break is always a bit of a tricky one so throw in the fact that it’s a lunchtime game leaving us with the smallest possible turnaround is a concern.
Forest may have lost Anthony Elanga but Forest are still excellent on the counter attack with Hudson-Odoi and Gibbs-White capable of really hurting teams. Although he has been left out of their Europa League squad, Omari Hutchison will be looking to prove his worth following a big money move from Ipswich Town in the summer. If he gets any minutes at The Emirates, Arsenal will need to be wary of Hutchinson’s eagerness to prove a point against the team who nurtured his talent through Hale End as ex-players always seem to go up a level when playing against their former teams.
David Raya has played a few careless passes in the first few games of this season which we were fortunate not to concede on each occasion so Arsenal need to be mindful of complaceny in a game that we’re expected to dominate possession. Raya must prove that this was just part of early season rustiness and avoid letting it become part of his regular game.
Lineup and Team News
There was some surprise team news from Arteta this week as he confirmed that William Saliba was back in training already following an ankle injury in the first few minutes at Anfield.
It would however, still be a surprise to see him start this games, especially given the amount of games coming up in the next four weeks and also the form of Cristhian Mosquera, who was excellent against Liverpool. A place on the bench seems much more likely.
Bukayo Saka is closing in on full fitness but remains out, White and Norgaard and fit again but Havertz and Jesus remain longer term absentees.
A lot of this team picks itself in the early stages of the season as we have only been playing once a week so rotation hasn’t really been necessary but there is a big question mark over the left wing spot. Eze came on and looked lively during his debut, whereas Martinelli had a really tough afternoon and offered very little. Trossard has seen very little minutes so far this season so appears to be between the first two for me. I’d expect Eze to get the nod but Arteta is a big fan of Martinelli so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him line up on the left. Madueke will surely continue on the right given his strong early season form and I would also expect Mosquera to start this one, as mentioned above.
The thing that is getting more and more interesting each week is who will be left out of the squad entirely. Including Max Dowman, Arsenal have a first team squad of 25 players. Jesus and Havertz are going to be missing long term so that leaves you with 23 players and only 19 spots (if everyone is fit). Such is the strength of this current squad, any of the four that are left out are either going to be full internationals or players that Arsenal have really high hopes for so it’s going to be intriguing how Arteta balances this throughout the season.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
Timber
Mosquera
Gabriel
Calafiori
Zubimendi
Rice
Odegaard
Madueke
Gyokeres
Eze
Substitues:
Kepa
White
Hincapie
Saliba
Norgaard
Merino
Martinelli
Trossard
Nwaneri
PREDICTION
Have to go with an Arsenal win. I don’t think we’ll get it all our own way and Forest will definitely be a threat on the break but I think with our new difference makers in Eze and Madueke, we should be able to cut them open at some point during the game so I’ll say 2-0 to The Arsenal.