Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal LIVE
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal LIVE
The City Ground has not been a happy hunting ground for Mikel Arteta, who has won just one of his five visits to Nottingham Forest as Arsenal manager.
His team, however, travel to the East Midlands in fine form after swatting aside Leeds and Lille on the back of the international break.
Arsenal will be keen to close the gap on Manchester City with victory but Arteta is also likely to have one eye on Wednesday's Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.
Midfielder Martin Zubimendi is pushing to return while the Gunners will be without Piero Hincapie, Christos Tzolis and William Saliba as they look to return back to north London with all three points.
You can keep posted on all the action below.
Key Events
Double Forest sub
Forest make their first change of the afternoon as Arnaud Kalimuendo and Ibrahim Sangare replace Dan Ndoye and Nicolas Dominguez
Arsenal miss huge chance!
Jurrien Timber cuts back to Declan Rice but he blasts over.
Can't help but feel that was a big opportunity.
Mikel Arteta is mixing things up.
Three more subs on.
Jurrien Timber, Viktor Gyokeres and Mikel Merino replace Ben White, Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes.
Madueke booked
Noni Madueke is booked for stopping a promising Nottingham Forest breakaway.
Back underway! Arsenal sub
The second half has started and Noni Madueke is on for Eberechi Eze.
Not hugely surprising.
HT ratings
Here are our half-time Arsenal player ratings.
David Raya - 6
Ben White - 6
Ezri Konsa - 7
Gabriel Magalhaes - 7
Riccardo Calafiori - 5
Declan Rice - 5
Bruno Guimaraes - 6
Bukayo Saka - 6
Martin Odegaard - 6
Eberechi Eze - 5
Kai Havertz - 5
HT: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
We go in level at the break.
Bruno Guimaraes down
Bruno Guimaraes is down after taking a ball to the face.
He blocked Neco Williams' strike from a free-kick very bravely.
Nottingham Forest have hit Arsenal on the. break and the counter results in Declan Rice bundling Liam Delap over.
This is a dangerous spot for a free-kick.
Havertz chance
Another half-chance for Kai Havertz as he rolls a weak effort into the side-netting.
Not much he could have done there as he was falling over and off balance.
Kai Havertz has the best chance of the half as he heads over from close range.
Declan Rice's free-kick is on the money but Havertz cannot keep his header down, nodding over.
That was a very good opening.
Arsenal's first corner of the afternoon causes chaos in the Forest box but still, the Gunners cannot convert.
A backheel from Gabriel Magalhaes hits Ezri Konsa and is eventually cleared.
Murillo down
A nasty scene here as Murillo is treated as blood trickles out of his ear.
Looks a nasty one for the Brazilian. Let's see if he can continue.
Forest go close!
Nottingham Forest probe after a rare mistake from Riccardo Calafiori.
He under hits his pass, Forest capitalise and the move eventually sees Dan Ndoye squirm a deflected effort into the side netting.
From the following corner, Murillo goes close but Michael Oliver blows up for a foul.
Williams booked!
Neco Williams is into the book for bringing down Bukayo Saka.
Saka has started well on the right and has looked threatening.
Arsenal go close!
Bukayo Saka's looping cross forces Matz Sels into action as he tips the delivery away from goal.
It was dropping either in or into a rather dangerous spot at the far post.
Aggressive Forest
Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes have been under a fair bit of pressure in the opening exchanges.
Liam Delap and Dan Ndoye are attempting to rough both up.
Both teams pay emotional tribute to young Forest fan James Kerry
There was an impeccable applause overseen pre-kick off for late Forest fan James Kerry, the brave young hero who tragically passed away aged nine following his battle with brain cancer.
A very touching moment.
Both teams are also wearing black armbands.
Porter supporting Raya and Meslier
18-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Porter has just been warming up with David Raya & Illan Meslier at the City Ground.
He is obviously not named in the squad but it's good experience for the teenager in the absence of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Jack Porter warms up with Arsenal at Nottingham Forest in the absence of Kepa Arrizabalaga(Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal's set-piece dry spell
Arsenal scored 25 non-penalty set-piece goals in the Premier League last season.
Their 19 from corners was the most ever by a team in a single campaign.
But this time around it's been slightly different. In fact, drastically different.
They haven't found the net from a set-piece - excluding penalties - yet this term in the top-flight.
Perhaps that could change today.
Odegaard to deliver?
Martin Odegaard is expected to play a big role today, and bet365 have some bets available...
To score from outside the box: 10/1
To score: 4/1
Assist: 7/2
Score or asists: 8/5
18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Begambleaware.org
Line-up analysis
A big call from Mikel Arteta as Eberechi Eze gets the nod ahead of Noni Madueke at left-wing.
It's not entirely surprising given how well Eze played in the second half against Lille on Tuesday.
This is a big opportunity for him to kick on following a frustrating start to the season.
If he plays well today, it's his spot to lose. At right-back, it's no major surprise to see Ben White return, either.
He's fresh after resting against Lille and while Jurrien Timber was excellent in midweek, he's not quite ready to play every game.
White has also been in great form since the start of the season.
Confirmed Arsenal team
Starting line-up: Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Eze, Havertz
Substitutes: Meslier, Mosquera, Timber, Gyokeres, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman
Predicted XI
Not long until team news at the City Ground.
One of the big calls Mikel Arteta has to make is at left-wing where Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke are both pushing to start.
Don't forget, Arsenal head to Munich on Wednesday evening and five of their next six matches are on the road.
You can read our full predicted XI HERE.
Match odds
If you fancy a flutter, bet365 are on hand...
Nottingham Forest win: 9/2
Draw: 14/5
Arsenal win: 8/13
18+ only. Please gamble responsibly. Begambleaware.org
Afternoon
And welcome to out coverage of today's huge clash between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal.
We'll be bringing you all the build-up, team news and action as it drops.
Stay tuned...