Premier League: Arsenal Aim to Delay City While Forest are Not Yet Out of the Woods

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes are hanging by a thread following their capitulation at home against Brighton last Sunday, and that leaves them needing to win all of their remaining games, although that might not be enough.

The Gunners trail Manchester City by four points, and the Sky Blues have a game in hand. So Arsenal will need to beat Nottingham Forest and pray that Manchester City slip up against Chelsea in order to delay their coronation.

For Nottingham Forest, this game is also crucial as they continue to fight against relegation. They’re currently 16^th in the standings with 34 points, which is only three points adrift of the drop zone.

Without further ado, continue reading below for the SBOTOP preview of this match.

Talking Points

Martinelli out for Arsenal

Arsenal have a couple of injuries to deal with, and the loss of Gabriel Martinelli is probably the biggest one.

Martinelli left their home loss against Brighton in a protective boot as he suffered ankle ligament damage following a crunch tackle by Moises Caicedo.

Caicedo showed remorse for his foul, especially since Martinelli was declared out for the rest of the season, joining William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny, and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the medical room.

Martinelli is the joint-top scorer alongside Martin Odegaard with 15 goals, and he has also recorded six assists this season. He could’ve had the chance of setting a new record for most Premier League goals for a Brazilian in a single season if he didn’t get injured.

With his 15 goals now a final tally for the campaign, he now shares the record with Roberto Firmino, who scored the same number of goals during 2017-18.

With Martinelli sidelined, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson should get more runs in their final two games. Nketiah currently has nine goals and one assist, while Nelson has three goals and three assists.

Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka will join Nketiah or Nelson up front. Saka has 14 goals and 11 assists, while Jesus has 10 goals and three assists.

Nottingham Forest clearly missed Awoniyi

Four weeks ago, Nottingham Forest had the worst goal total in the Premier League. But in their last five games, they’ve scored 12, which is a third of their entire total of 36 goals.

Their upturn in form can be attributed to the return of Taiwo Awoniyi, who missed two months of action due to a groin injury. It’s not a coincidence that during that stretch when he was sidelined, Forest had gone 11 games without a single victory and slipped to 19^th in the standings.

Nottingham Forest full-back Serge Aurier said that the team missed Awoniyi up front, and it’s hard to disagree. Since returning last month, Awoniyi has scored four goals with five shots on target. He is currently the team’s second-leading scorer with nine goals, and he has one assist.

Awoniyi was in the Premier League 2023 highlights reel when he scored twice to help Nottingham Forest secure a 4-3 victory over Southampton, and then he had two more against Chelsea during their 2-2 draw on Saturday.

For the first time in a long while, Nottingham Forest look like they have the firepower to possibly get them over the line.

History

Arsenal are aiming to achieve a Premier League double over Nottingham Forest for the second time since doing so in 1998-99. The Gunners are on their way after winning 5-0 against them at the Emirates last October.

Four different scorers were featured in the reverse fixture, as Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey, and Martin Odegaard had one goal each, while Reiss Nelson recorded a brace.

Nottingham Forest have won just two of their last 10 home league matches against Arsenal (D1, L7). This is also the first time they’ve hosted them in the Premier League since a 1-0 defeat in January 1999.

Forest’s last league home win against the Gunners was in December 1996. However, they’ve won their last two meetings overall at the City Ground, winning their FA Cup ties in the third round in 2018 and 2022.

Betting Tip

This game gives Arsenal their best chance to get back on track and possibly keep their Premier League title hopes alive.

The Premier League 2023 odds have the Gunners winning at 1.56, whereas Nottingham Forest are the underdogs at 4.80, and a draw is at 3.95 in the 1×2 market.

Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest in their reverse fixture this season, and we feel that this is going to be the case once again come Saturday, but the scoreline shouldn’t be as big as before.

 

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