Arsenal club captain Martin Odegaard expects a 'difficult test' against Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
The Gunners last played Forest in the 1-0 FA Cup defeat at The City Ground last term and Mikel Arteta will be hoping his side can inflict revenge by returning to winning ways against Steve Cooper's team. Gabriel Jesus is looking to end a run of six games without a goal after urging his teammates to 'stay calm' heading into the break for the World Cup next month.
Arsenal can return to the top of the Premier League with a win against Forest after Manchester City moved above them following their 1-0 win over Leicester on Saturday. Mohamed Elneny returned to first team training this week after recovering from a muscle injury, with the Egyptian midfielder set to feature in the matchday squad.
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Speaking to the Arsenal official website, Odegaard previewed the clash against Forest as the Gunners take on a very different team to that they faced in the FA Cup last season. The Norwegian playmaker said: "We played against Nottingham Forest last season when they knocked us out of the cup, so we know to expect a really big test today.
"I didn’t manage to watch their game against Liverpool last weekend, we were training at that time, but of course it’s a great result for them, and tells us what we have to be ready for today. We know they have a lot of quality players."
Forest beat Liverpool 1-0 last weekend as Taiwo Awonyi scored the winning goal against his former side, showing that Forest can cause an upset on their day. Odegaard continued: "They have changed a lot since we played that game in the FA Cup, bringing in a lot of signings.
"I expect it to be a very different team to the one we faced in January. It looks like they have added a lot of individual quality to what they already had, and like every team in the Premier League, they have shown they can beat anybody.
"I played the whole of that FA Cup game last season away at Forest, and I was very impressed with them that day, so if they have improved even more since then, then for sure they will be a difficult test today. They will be highly motivated coming to the Emirates today, with the confidence of their result last weekend as well. It’s up to us to get back to winning ways in the league."
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