The Premier League returns mercifully to the Emirates Stadium after Arsenal spent their last two matches away from their north London home. Both Leeds and Southampton were unable to claim wins against the Gunners despite a dip in the side’s performance.
Arsenal emerged with four points and were still top of the table. However, the loss to PSV in the Europa League has brought the side’s unbeaten run to a halt and shed some light on the fragility of the side.
Nottingham Forest’s arrival after beating Liverpool might look on paper like a nice game to try and respond to but Mikel Arteta has already lost to Steve Cooper’s side this year after the FA Cup 3rd round defeat in January. It is crucial that the Spaniard gets the team selection right for the league clash on Sunday.
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After making a difficult European debut, Aaron Ramsdale will maintain his spot in the Arsenal team. He replaced Matt Turner on Thursday after he suffered a tight groin issue and was not risked.
Having the typical back four in front of him should help as Rob Holding in particular seriously struggled at PSV. Ben White will return at right back to support William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes who continue to impress but the Frenchman will need to avoid being booked to play against Chelsea next week.
At left-back, this is the real debate in the team at present. Takehiro Tomiyasu has started the past three league games but now playing at home and against a side like Nottingham Forest, Kieran Tierney should start to offer the Gunners that much more going forwards.
Oleksandr Zinchenko meanwhile remains enigmatic in his availability. There has been little-to-no suggestion that Arsenal supporters can expect to see him back on the field anytime soon other than a small promise of his return coming before the World Cup.
Thomas Partey came on early against PSV, perhaps far more quickly than Mikel Arteta might have hoped as he tried to wrestle back dominance which in the end proved fruitless. Albert Sambi Lokonga simply cannot operate close to the level of the Ghanaian, so his return will be welcomed from the start.
Granit Xhaka has been the star of the season for Arsenal but had his most underwhelming performance in the team against PSV. Along with Martin Odegaard however, they have made the Emirates their playground and hopefully, the duo will cause further mayhem against Forest.
Gabriel Martinelli had his worst game in an Arsenal shirt on Thursday, no exaggeration. This game against Nottingham Forest is the perfect game to bounce back. He will reunite with Bukayo Saka who, similar to Partey, was perhaps frustratingly brought on after conceding.
Gabriel Jesus faces a double challenge up top. He first needs to end his goalscoring drought and avoid being yellow carded like Saliba; a booking would result in the Brazilian being suspended for the Chelsea match and despite Eddie Nketiah’s Stamford Bridge heroics last season, few would bet on a repeat considering his poor form.
Arsenal predicted XI vs Nottingham Forest - Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
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