The City Ground hasn’t been a venue Arsenal has found much joy in recent seasons. I remember when Nottingham Forest was still in the Championship and Arsenal visited them in the FA Cup Third Round. What was meant to be a routine win for the Gunners turned out to be an embarrassing defeat that saw Mikel Arteta’s men crash out of the competition.
Nottingham Forest returned to the Premier League last season and Arsenal visited the City Ground at the tail end of the campaign when the spirits had been dampened from the derailed title challenge and the contest was settled courtesy of a Taiwo Awoniyi goal.
Arsenal was in a putrid run of form before smashing Crystal Palace resoundingly to boost the confidence of the lads, but it came at a considerable cost with Declan Rice suffering a hamstring injury and Gabriel having a knock on his knee. With Liverpool in the horizon, Arteta is faced with a very tough choice on whether to start Rice and Gabriel, further aggravating their injuries, or resting them at the risk of losing their influence in such a monumental game.
Nottingham Forest have that new manager bounce with Nuno Espirito Santo playing some decent football with the club, but they have a considerable chunk of their playing squad out on international duty. Nottingham had only one win in 13 before Santo took over, but they have gotten three wins in five since the Portuguese manager took over.
Under Steve Cooper, Nottingham struggled badly at home, losing four of their last five home games in the Premier League. However, Arsenal has a shocking record there, losing their last three games on City Ground, while failing to score in the last two.
To team news, Nottingham Forest will be without Ola Aina, Cheickou Kouyate, Wily Boly, Serge Aurier, Ibrahim Sangare and Moussa Diakhite still in AFCON action, while Taiwo Awoniyi and Felipe still nursing injuries. Divock Origi and Anthony Elanga are just returning from knocks, so I don’t expect them to start. Nuno Tavares will certainly not start, as he can’t play his parent team.
Arsenal on the other hand, are sweating on the fitness of Rice and Gabriel, and will subject both players to late fitness test ahead of their selection tonight. Despite seeing him in training pictures, Arteta confirmed that Thomas Partey is not available for selection. I hope he can play a part in the Liverpool game.
Predicted Nottingham Forest Lineup: Turner; Montiel, Omobamidele, Murillo, Toffolo; Yates, Danilo; Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Dominguez; Wood
Predicted Arsenal Lineup: Raya; White, Saliva, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
Here’s to a good game of football.
Sayonara.
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