Martin Keown believes Nottingham Forest will not repeat their remarkable performance against Liverpool this weekend.
The Reds recorded a vital 1-0 win over Liverpool at the City Ground as Steve Cooper’s side frustrated Jurgen Klopp’s stars last time out. It was a statement result that proved Forest are capable of getting points from the most high-profile teams as the club look to climb out of the bottom three.
Cooper’s side will be looking to repeat a similar feat this weekend as the Reds travel to take on the Gunners on Sunday. Arsenal are top of the league table, despite being held to a draw against Southampton last weekend and even though they suffered a defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday, Keown has backed the Gunners to get back to winning ways.
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“I don’t think there’s any need to panic, I actually felt this was always going to be a difficult fixture for Arsenal,” the former Gunners man told talkSPORT. “We’re on seven games in October, lots of games in quick succession. There are a group of players that are not available for selection for Arteta, he’s been sort of resting five or six each game, they’ve been flip-flopping really.
“One or two were maybe not giving everything because they’re trying to manage their workload. When you don’t have your best 11 out, you can see Arsenal fall away a little bit. That may be the problem, is the squad strong enough? Every club will have their injury problems but it’s really showing on Arsenal right now.”
On Forest’s chances, Keown said: “They had a very creditable win over Liverpool, played compactly, played deep. Going to the Emirates, I think it’s going to be a lot more difficult for them than playing at home.”
Forest will hope that the demands of Arsenal’s fixture will play to their advantage, given the relatively quick turnaround from Thursday. The Gunners also have Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith-Rowe on the sidelines, as well as both Gabriel Jesus and William Saliba being one booking away from a suspension.
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