HP Terbaru 2023 – Arsenal head to Nottingham Forest for teatime kickoff

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By Filip Mishov

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Forest’s recent home record against the stretched Gunners offers a glimmer of hope

Nottingham Forest experienced a rollercoaster of a week heading into last weekend, with Sean Dyche‘s squad securing a hugely important victory against West Ham to stay seven points above the Premier League’s relegation zone before suffering a Hollywood-style defeat to Wrexham and an early exit from the FA Cup. The furious Dyche labelled the team’s performance “unacceptable to the badge.”

Forest sit 17th in the table but continue to underperform their xG (the underlying numbers suggest they could be as high as 12th in the xG table), and an immediate reaction is both requested and expected by the fans against what could be a game-weary Gunners side at the City Ground.

The leaders continue the hunt for a long-coveted quadruple and with Arsenal’s busy fixture list culminating over the next few days, Mikel Arteta is making use of his full squad to remain in contention on all fronts. The set-piece specialists defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final during the week, but given the Gunners’ recent record (2L, 1D, 1W) at the City Ground in recent years, the Spaniard will be wary of the threat that Forest pose despite their current league position.

Key players

Elliot Anderson earned a deserved rest after recording an assist against West Ham, but the Englishman’s presence was sorely missed in midfield against Wrexham and the coaching staff will have to think twice next time before resting Forest’s highest-rated (7.39) player this season. The 23-year-old has started each and every match of the Premier League campaign and his dominance in more than a few stats speaks of a complete midfielder. The energetic No. 8 is leading the squad in terms of assists (2), accurate passes per 90 (58.6)and chances created (31), displaying his all-round ability.

With Viktor Gyökeres still finding his feet and adjusting to the Premier League, Leandro Trossard is Arsenal’s unsung hero this season and the tricky Belgian is the squad’s joint-top scorer (5) and assist maker (4) in the top flight. Despite the rich competition in the Gunners’ attacking line, the experienced forward is proving his worth to Mikel Arteta season after season, and it is not a coincidence to see him earn a FotMob rating of 7.26 so far, which is his highest rating during his time in the Premier League.

Team news

Sean Dyche questioned his fringe players’ quality following their disappointing FA Cup exit and Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White are expected to return to the starting XI among others. Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangaré are back from AFCON while Oleksandr Zinchenko is ineligible to face his parent club. John Victor, Ryan Yates and Chris Wood remain injured. 

For the Gunners, Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Max Dowman all missed the midweek match against Chelsea and will not make the trip to Nottingham.

Prediction

The City Ground not as tough a place to go as it usually is this season, as Forest only have the 16th best home record in England’s top flight. With Arsenal the best travellers, we’re expecting another low scoring away with for the Londoners.

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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