Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest: EPL Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Fantasy XI

A day after Manchester City visit Burnley in the 2023/24 Premier League season's opener, Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest at the Emirates with a desire to go one better than last term and win the title.

Match Details:

• Location: London, England
• Stadium: Emirates Stadium
• Date: Saturday 12 August
• Kick-off Time: 12:30 (BST) / 07:30 (EST) / 04:30 (PST)
• Referee: Michael Oliver
• VAR: Jarred Gillett

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest: Match Preview

Arsenal have had a tremendous transfer window and will likely start the new season against Nottingham Forest with all three of their new signings in the starting lineup. The Gunners have had a reasonably successful pre-season and capped it off with a Community Shield win over Manchester City.

That game at Wembley showed what Arsenal are made of this season and how Mikel Arteta has managed to integrate his new arrivals smoothly. The Community Shield match also showed what the starting lineup for the first game against Nottingham Forest would look like.

For Arteta, the biggest challenge is to keep the hunger within his team alive and go again for the Premier League title. The clash against Nottingham Forest will also bring back memories of how Steve Cooper's side effectively ended their title challenge with the loss at City Ground.

Hence, there is plenty of motivation for Arteta before opening the season. More importantly, Arsenal must have an excellent start to their campaign and look to build momentum to sustain a title challenge in the upcoming season.

Nottingham Forest will enter the new season knowing they must sustain another relegation challenge. Cooper's side managed to avert a catastrophic relegation back to the Championship after a late rally in the last campaign.

Cooper has again found the support of his club owner to provide the necessary funds to strengthen the side and make them at least mid-table challengers at best. Whether that is sufficient will remain a question, but they look steady so far.

The aim for Cooper on the opening day must circle around avoiding a heavy defeat and bringing back the spirit that saw them beat the Gunners. Incidentally, their victory over Arsenal at the City Ground confirmed their safety from relegation, and the Forest manager will hope for a similar, gritty result.

Team News:

Arsenal:

Despite having a relatively busy and successful transfer window, Arteta is not flooded with choices ahead of the Premier League opener. Both Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny are out of the picture with injuries.

Oleksandr Zinchenko missed the Community Shield victory against Manchester City, but new signing Timber impressed and could start at left-back again in the Ukranian's absence. Reiss Nelson, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Jorginho and Folarin Balogun were all absent on Sunday and may not be available at the weekend.

With Jesus injured, Arteta must decide whether he wants to use Havertz, Leandro Trossard or Eddie Nketiah at the centre of the attack on Saturday.

Nottingham Forest:

There are a few important players that should be able to return from injury in time to face Arsenal, with Taiwo Awoniyi and Brennan Johnson possibly back in the starting XI after fitness issues. Awoniyi is more likely to start at present.

Felipe will be under consideration after a knee injury, but Steve Cooper is definitely without Moussa Niakhate, Wayne Hennessey and Omar Richards. Matt Turner could immediately make his debut against his old team in goal, with Ola Aina also in line for his Forest bow.

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest: Head to Head

• Arsenal have an impressive historical record against Nottingham Forest and have won 52 out of the 103 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Nottingham Forest's 29 victories.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine league games at home against Nottingham Forest, with their previous such defeat coming by a 3-1 margin in 1969.
• Nottingham Forest stunned Arsenal with a 1-0 victory in their previous league meeting in May this year and have not won consecutive league games against the Gunners since 1978.
• Arsenal have played out their first Premier League game of the season in London in 11 of their last 12 seasons, with the only exception during this period coming against Newcastle United in 2019.
• Nottingham Forest have lost their opening league game in each of their last four seasons and have not endured a run of five consecutive defeats of this nature in their history.

Predicted Line-ups:

Arsenal predicted lineup (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

Nottingham Forest predicted lineup (3-5-2): Turner; Worrall, Boly, McKenna; Aurier, Yates, Danilo, Mangala, Aina; Gibbs-White, Awoniyi.

ARS vs NOF: Fantasy XI

Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Worrall, Boly, Danilo, Mangala, Rice; Saka, Gibbs-White, Awoniyi.