Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been appointed as the new Nottingham Forest manager and will face Arsenal this weekend.
The Gunners have had a solid start to the new season under Mikel Arteta, winning two of their opening three games before the international break. Their last game was a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, but they have a great chance to bounce back on Saturday with a game against Nottingham Forest.
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Forest are a club in a period of transition, as Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked after a falling out with owner Evangelos Maranakis, and he will be replaced by former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who was controversially sacked after winning the Europa League with Spurs last season.
The Gunners will host Postecoglou and his new look Forest team on Saturday at the Emirates, hoping to get one over the former rival boss. But what is the Australian manager’s record like against Arsenal, and does his appointment help or hinder the Gunners heading into the weekend?
Postecoglou is a downgrade for Forest against Arsenal
The simple answer is the numbers look good for Arsenal. The new Nottingham Forest boss faced the Gunners four times during his tenure at Tottenham, and he never managed to win a game against Arteta’s side.
Arsenal won three of four meetings against Postecoglou, with the other being a draw, meaning that the ex-Spurs boss has a 0.25 points per game record against Arsenal. That is a massive downgrade on Santo, who managed Wolves, Spurs and Forest against the Gunners.
Nuno’s record amounted to 1.2 points per game against Arsenal, winning three games, drawing three and losing four in 10 meetings. Furthermore, Nuno found success at Forest playing a counter-attack heavy brand of football, something that matches up well to Arsenal’s possession heavy style. Whereas, Postecoglou likes to play a high-pressing, aggressively attacking style, which Arsenal can contain fairly well.
It more comes down to if the Australian manager can get his Forest squad to adapt to his style before the game on Saturday, something that will likely be a big challenge for the former Tottenham boss, but we will see.
Click here to see Arsenal’s latest injury news ahead of the game against Forest on Saturday.