Nottingham Forest (H)

The international break is over and it is back to PL action. We have a home 3pm game against Nottingham Forest. It is 4th vs 5th, and it is MASSIVE!!!!

Our Form
We go into the game on a 4 match winless streak. Last time out saw us draw 1-1 with Chelsea, coming off a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle, a 1-1 with Liverpool and defeat to Bournemouth. During that period we also lost our unbeaten CL start to Inter, but are going strong in the League Cup.

Injuries
Martin Odegaard returned just before the break so hopefully the 2 weeks will have helped him get back to full fitness. Ben White is out for a few weeks, but hopefully Riccardo Calafiori can return after getting back on the training field.
Leandro Trossard looked like a casualty of the internationals, coming off early in Belgiums first game but it seems he could be fit for tomorrow.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka should be fit. Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli both trained after international duty in South America. No issues reported on the likes of Raya, Timber, Saliba, Havertz after their nation duty.
Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu are still out.


The Forest start
Pre-season they were seen as a real contender for the drop, but their start has defied the odds and sees them 5th. Their away record is the second best in the league, as is their defensive record - only Liverpool beat them on both aspects. The big result of their season so far was at Anfield, where they beat Liverpool 1-0. That game, like tomorrow, was a 3pm after an international break...
They lost for only the second time this season in their last match, a 3-1 defeat at home to Newcastle. Both their defeats have been at the City Ground. That Newcastle defeat ended a 3 game winning run.
Their away record is played 5, won 3, lost 0, drawn 2, scoring 8 and conceding 4.

Strong Defence
Matz Sels has established himself as #1 since joining at the beginning of the year and has proved reliable, keeping 4 clean sheets so far. In front of him, Murillo has continued his great form of last season and even scored his first goal earlier this season. He has a new partner, Nikola Milenkovic, who has settled in straight away following his move from Fiorentina. The full backs, Ola Aina and Alex Moreno, add strong tackling down the flanks.

Chris Wood
Only Erling Haaland has scored more than Woods 8 this season. The big man also scored 5 times over the international break and is on fire...
He is supported down the wings by pacy Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi with Jota a much used sub to compliment them. Morgan Gibbs White is the fulcrum of the attack, although he has only scored once and has no assists yet.

Midfield bite
Ryan Yates and Nicolas Dominguez add fight to their midfield, picking up 7 yellows between them. Big money signing Elliot Anderson also has 3 yellows, while both Morgan Gibbs White and James Ward Prowse have both seen red this season.

H2H
Both games last season ended 2-1 to the Arsenal. Forest last beat Arsenal at the end of the 22/23 season, a 1-0 win at the City Ground that ended our title challenge and kept Forest up. Forests record at Arsenal is not very good, you have to go back to 1989 for their last win away.


250!!!
It is Mikel Arteta's 250th game as manager of Arsenal. He has won more games than any other Arsenal in the first 250 games of a reign - 10 more than Arsene Wenger managed, 11 more than George Graham and 36 more than Herbert Chapman with one to play!!
Bukayo Saka has played the most in the Arteta era, 222 games. He has also scored the most - 60 goals.