MY ACCOUNT
– Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool last weekend but now face an even bigger test away at Arsenal
– The Gunners have slipped up recently on the road but remain class on home soil
– Recommended bet: Back Arsenal and over 3.5 goals
Nottingham Forest caused the upset of the weekend last Saturday, stunning Liverpool with a 1-0 win at the City Ground to send home fans wild and temporarily lift Steve Cooper’s men off the bottom of the Premier League.
They may now be looking at Arsenal’s recent record and thinking they could land back-to-back shocks when they head to north London, as the Gunners have stuttered a little of late.
Mikel Arteta’s side nicked a fortunate 1-0 win at Leeds a fortnight ago and then laboured to a 1-1 draw at Southampton last Sunday.
On Thursday, the Gunners lost 2-0 at PSV Eindhoven — a result that sees them needing to win their final group stage match to guarantee a place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
However, all three of those wobbles came on the road — back in north London, Arsenal are a different beast altogether.
Team news
Long-term absentees Emile Smith Rowe and midfielder Mohamed Elneny remain unavailable for Arsenal, while left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko seems unlikely to be rushed back given he was not fit enough to make the bench on Thursday.
Marquinhos missed the Gunners’ Europa League fixture through illness so will be assessed before this match but reserve goalkeeper Matt Turner could again miss out with a minor groin strain.
Cooper is likely to stick with the line-up that saw off Liverpool last weekend, with no new injury concerns reported among his squad.
Centre-back Moussa Niakhate and midfielder Jack Colback again look set to miss out and while Omar Richards is close to returning from the leg fracture that has delayed his Forest debut, the defender remains a week or so away.
Left-back Harry Toffolo is out for several weeks with a hamstring injury while Lewis O’Brien has missed the last three matches through illness and will have to be assessed before kick-off.
The stats
Having gained just one win and one draw from their first eight games of the season, Nottingham Forest have now claimed five points from the last four outings.
That turn in form has come since Cooper switched to using a 4-3-3 formation, with his team abandoning the front-footed, aggressive approach to sit deeper, cede possession and hit opponents on the break.
However, it should be noted that home advantage is still playing just as big a part in their upturn in form — Forest lost 1-0 at Wolves and were thoroughly outclassed at Brighton but somehow nicked a 0-0 draw in their two road trips during that run.
That adds to an away record that has seen Cooper’s side claim just two points from their six Premier League away games this season, scoring just one goal and conceding 14.
While Arsenal have suffered a mini-slump on the road, they remain imperious at home — Arteta’s men have won all seven matches at the Emirates Stadium this season, scoring 18 goals and conceding seven at an average of 3.57 total goals per home game.
Prediction
While there have certainly been some promising signs for Forest in recent weeks it is too early yet to say that their shock success against Liverpool is anything other than a freak result.
Their other positive results in their recent outings have been an extremely fortunate 0-0 draw against Brighton and a home draw against an Aston Villa side in the death throes of Steven Gerrard’s unsuccessful tenure — neither performance was particularly promising.
Add in the fact that their other two outings in their last five games were a 1-0 defeat at a Wolves side who have lost each of the rest of their last six matches and a 4-0 thumping at struggling Leicester, and it looks too soon to call it a genuine upturn.
Arsenal may have struggled in their last couple of away games and are likely suffering a little fatigue from their Europa League exertions, but they remain a class act on home soil, beating Liverpool 3-2 and Tottenham 3-1 in their last two Premier League home games.
They can maintain that trend so back Arsenal to win and over 3.5 goals at 5/4 with LiveScore Bet.
