Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

Nottingham Forest and Arsenal are set to trade tackles in contrasting Premier League circumstances at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest shared the spoils with Chelsea in a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw away from home last weekend, preserving a three-point lead on 18th-placed Leeds United at the start of this round. But consistency has been Forest’s enemy of late as they had alternated between winning (2) and losing (2) in four league matches before drawing at Stamford Bridge. However, Steve Cooper’s men have excelled at the City Ground recently, going from five straight winless home league games (D3, L2) to winning the last two in a row by an aggregate score of 7-4. Despite their impressive scoring exploits, the ‘Tricky Trees’ enter this fixture as underdogs and naturally so after winning just two of their last ten home league encounters against Arsenal (D1, L7).

Meanwhile, a humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Brighton last weekend effectively ended Arsenal’s faint hopes of landing their first Premier League title in 19 years. Not even a win against a Forest side they thumped 5-0 in the reverse fixture in October will suffice if Manchester City beat Chelsea at home the following day. But the ‘Gunners’ are not even sure they can hold up their end of the bargain after managing just one win on their last four league travels (D2, L1), alarmingly conceding 2+ goals in each failed attempt to wrap up three points. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as Arsenal could register five successive league wins over Forest for the first time in the club’s history, suggesting motivation isn’t in short supply.