Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Predicted Lineups

Arsenal come in to this game off the back of a gutting defeat to title rivals Liverpool at Anfield in GW3. They will be determined and desperate to bounce back and re-start a title charge by taking all 3 points at home in GW4. Arsenal strengthened tremendously in the summer adding the likes of Eze, Gyokeres and Zubimendi among others. The Gunners have had an up and down start to the season with a poor performance against Manchester United but they got out of Old Trafford with a win. They followed that up by thrashing Leeds at home and then the loss at Anfield. Their chance creation ability and cautious approach in favour of defensive solidity is once again under question this season. They also are dealing with some key players out injured, but Arsenal are probably the best defensive team in the country and do look to be Liverpool’s strongest rival for the Premier League crown.

The Gunners are facing a Nottingham Forest team with a difficult task, after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked Monday night. Not entirely shocking given the reports around his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis but nothing on the pitch suggested this was warranted. Nuno will be replaced by former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou – which is a drastic change in play style and philosophy for this Forest squad of players. It is going to be a process, likely one with struggles if Spurs’ performance last season is any indication, and Arsenal at the Emirates is about as tough of a first test as you can get.

Given the nature of the two teams prior to Ange Postecoglou’s hiring on Tuesday, with Arsenal preferring to establish control and possession dominance and stopping opponent transitions above all else, and Forest’s inclination to sit back, defend at a very high level in a low to mid block and to counter with talented forwards, it set’s up for Arsenal to mostly play in Forest’s half and look to squeeze them. But Ange likes his teams to play with a high-line and try to play football and create chances themselves, so we will see how this plays out. Arsenal are certainly strong favourites.

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

Green Light: Confident the player will start.

Amber Light: A toss up on whether the player will start.

Red Light: Confident the player will not start.

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Arsenal Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal Team News:

Speaking to the media on Friday, Mikel Arteta revealed that Bukayo Saka is still out, recovering from a hamstring injury, whereas William Saliba and Ben White are back in team training and Saliba is in contention to start against Nottingham Forest. Arteta, speaking on Arsenal’s injuries revealed “Bukayo is out. He is still out and he is trying to get back as quick as possible. We need to respect that process… William Saliba trained today and Ben White too. We have a decision to make if we play (Saliba)or not. It’s very good news.”

With Saka having suffered two fairly serious hamstring injuries in the past 9 months, Arsenal and Arteta will air on the side of caution. I would expect Saka to return in GW6 in the best case scenario. Saliba, while potentially fit enough to start, may not need to be risked against Forest with how well Mosquera performed in his place against Liverpool. Arsenal can protect Saliba against re-injury and likely still get the win in this game against a Forest team reeling from a bad loss to West Ham and their Manager being fired. Ben White returning is good news for Arsenal, but I expect Timber to start this game at right-back.

Calafiori looks to have made the left-back role his own. However, with the signing of Piero Hincapie who has played left-back and left wing-back for Bayer Leverkusen, Calafiori’s starting place is less certain. Hincapie also played plenty of minutes as a centre-back, mostly in a back-5, and is likely Gabriel’s top deputy. Arteta, speaking on Arsenal’s new signing, stated “He is a player we have wanted for a few years. With the departure of Jakub Kiwior as well, we needed another player in that position… He’s ready to go. He’s trained two days with us…” which is revealing, as Kiwior was viewed as Gabriel and Saliba’s deputy, so that is clearly how Arteta sees him. Whether he becomes a real factor at left-back is also one to watch out for.

Odegaard came on in the second half against Liverpool after suffering a shoulder injury he picked up against Leeds. He started both of Norway’s games during the international break and will start against Forest. Madueke should retain the right-wing role for at least one more GW.

Eze has to be in-line to start at left-wing against Nottingham Forest after Martinelli’s poor display against Liverpool and the bad form he has been in the past 18 months. Eze started and played 80 minutes for England against Andorra in their first World Cup Qualifier and then did not feature at all against Serbia. There has been no more news on Havertz’s timeline, but it is safe to expect he will not be back until mid October at the earliest.

Arsenal Players to Watch:

Saliba:

Saka:

Mosquera:

Eze:

Odegaard:

White:

Hincapie:

Nottingham Forest Predicted Lineup:

Nottingham Forest Team News:

Forest have sacked Manager Nuno Espirito Santo and replaced him with Ange Postecoglou. It is about as drastic a shift in play style as a team could undertake in the midst of the season and it will take a large adjustment period, most of all for the defenders. Nuno played a low to mid block; Ange likes to play a very high line, press, win the ball back in dangerous places and to be the overwhelming attacking force in games. He did show some pragmatism in the Europa League Final victory over United as Spurs Manager, however Ange is very much an idealogue.

Forest collapsed in GW3 against West Ham from the 84th minute onwards after Bowen opened the scoring, and went on to lose 3-0 to the team that had the worst start to the seasonof any team. Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko have joined Forest on loan. New signings Omari Hutchinson, Arnaud Kalimuendo and James McAtee all saw their first minutes for the club off the bench in GW3 in the loss to West Ham – and given all 3 goals were conceded after they were subbed on, none made a case to now start. However, with a new coach with very specific requirements in his system with his principles, there could be changes coming to the starting lineup.

The front-4 of Wood, Ndoye, Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi’s place in the starting lineup are pretty secure and new forward signings Hutchinson, Jesus, Kalimuendo and Bakwa will be bench players / rotation options. Anderson’s place in the starting lineup is as secure as anyone in the team, however Sangare’s place is certainly under threat from Luiz. Despite Zinchenko’s signing, the back-5 seems like it would be secure. Williams is the superior player to the Ukrainian at this point, and there is no real threat to the other 3 defenders or Sels at GK.

Nottingham Forest Players to Watch:

Williams:

Sangare:

Douglas Luiz:

Zinchenko:

McAtee:

Hutchinson:

Kalimuendo:

Final Thoughts:

Arsenal will set up as they typically do, in a 4-3-3 but likely in a far less defensively minded fashion than they did against Liverpool. Arteta’s side will look to establish control in possession and territorial dominance in Nottingham Forest’s half and to ratchet up the pressure until Forest’s defence folds. Forest, under a brand new coach who will have had 2-3 training sessions with the team before this game, will likely look to play a higher line than under Nuno, and will try to be more of an attacking force in this game and games in general than they did under Nuno. With Arsenal’s elite defence, they should be able to handle any counter attacks from a good Forest team and should be able to crack a defence that will defending in a very different manor than they are accustomed to, and Eze, Madueke, Gyokeres and others should be able to take advantage. An Arsenal win at home seems inevitable given the circumstances.