Nottingham Forest FC will host Arsenal FC in the English Premier League 22nd round match at the City Ground Stadium. The fixture will take place on Thursday, February 1, beginning at 01:00 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Nottingham Forest News & Current Form: 

Forest are fighting for survival in the English Premier League this season. At the moment, the sixteenth team of last EPL campaign is in the same position again this season. The collective from West Bridgford has 20 points and is only four points ahead of the relegation zone, where Luton Town FC is located. 

In recent games the club lost to Brentford FC (2:3), and outplayed Manchester United FC (2:1) and Newcastle United FC (3:1), and before that there was a series of seven matches without wins.

In 21 games, the Reds have managed to find a back of the net 26 times while conceding 38. The team is already far from the high places, so the main task will be to maintain a place in the elite. For this purpose the Trees have recently changed the coach, instead of Steve Cooper, Nuno Espirito Santo came to this post.

The recent change has had a very positive impact on the club. And it’s not so much about the results of the team, but in the football demonstrated by the players, Santo pleasantly surprised. It seems that the former coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC has changed his approach. The Trees have scored nine goals in their last four EPL meetings. In comparison, in the previous 17 rounds of the championship they scored only 17 goals.

Recently appointment coach of Nottingham Forest – Nuno Espirito Santo

Nottingham Forest crashed out of the English Football League Cup at the first stage of the tournament, losing to Burnley FC (0:1), but in the domestic cup the team has already beaten Blackpool FC in the replay (3:2) and now they are waiting for the replay with Bristol City FC.

Felipe and Taiwo Awoniyi will miss the next round due to injuries, participation of  Anthony Elanga and Divock Origi in the match against Arsenal is questionable due to health reasons. Defenders Moussa Niakate, Willy Boly, Serge Aurier and Ola Aina, midfielders Ibrahim Sangare and Cheikhou Kouyate are away at the CAF African Cup of Nations.

And even if any of them manage to return after their national team’s early exit from the tournament, it is unlikely that the physical condition of any player will be suitable to come out from the first minutes against one of the title contenders. Defender Nuno Tavares is also ineligible to play against the Gunners, according to his loan agreement. 

After the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo, Newcastle’s loanee Chris Wood has made a huge difference. The 32-year-old forward has scored five goals and one assist in his last four games.

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Arsenal News & Current Form: 

The Gunners are once again one of the title contenders in this EPL season. Arsenal are currently third in the standings with 43 points. They are only five points behind leading Liverpool FC and have the same number of points with Manchester City and Aston Villa FC.

The team from London has sent the ball into the opponent’s net 42 times, while they have only conceded 20 into their own. In the last game Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace FC (5:0), the double in that meeting marked Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli. And before that lost to Fulham FC (1:2) and West Ham United FC (0:2), and also played a draw with Liverpool (1:1). Before that, the wards of Mikel Arteta won the match against Brighton and Hove Albion FC (2:0).

Author of a brace in a game against Crystal Palace – Gabriel Martinelli

As for the performance in the English League Cup, here the Londoners have already stopped their struggle. The London team in the 1/8 finals lost to West Ham (1:3). And in the Emirates FA Cup, the team lost to Liverpool (0:2) and also dropped out of the tournament.

The capital team won their UEFA Champions League group. The team from the capital of England managed to gain 13 points out of 18 possible and make it to the play-offs, where their opponent will be FC Porto.

Arsenal continues to progress gradually under the leadership of Mikel Arteta. Often the team demonstrates quality dominant football, but at times there are slumps, due to which the chances of winning trophies are reduced to zero.

Former Liverpool player Dietmar Hamann believes that there are only two contenders to win the current EPL season, and Arsenal are not among them. They simply lack stability and a championship mentality and are failing at the most important parts of the season.

Personnel-wise, the Gunners are in a pretty favorable situation. Only injuries to Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira, plus the departure of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed ElNeny to their national teams are reasons for concern for the coaching staff.

Midfielder Declan Rice, who also had minor injuries, was able to recover quickly thanks to the team’s free calendar in January and is expected to start in the starting line-up at Nottingham.

Nottingham Forest form guide: W-W-D-W-L-D

Arsenal form guide: W-D-L-L-L-W

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Head-To-Head Record:

• October 30, 2022: Arsenal 5 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Premier League);
• May 20, 2023: Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Arsenal (Premier League);
• August 12, 2023: Arsenal 2 – 1 Nottingham Forest (Premier League).

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Predicted XI:

Nottingham Forest’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Turner; Montiel, Omobamidele, Murillo, Toffolo; Mangala, Yates; Gibbs-White, Danilo, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Arsenal’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.

Statistical preview of the match Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal:

• Forest’s First XI average age is 25.2 years, Arsenal’s First XI average age is 25.8 years.
• The total value of Nottingham’s squad is 389 mln euros, while Arsenal’s total is 1.12 bln euros.
• Simon Hooper has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 18 games this season, showing an average of 5 Yellow Cards and also whistles 24 fouls per game. 
• Nottingham Forest allow an average of 5.75 corner kicks near their own goal, while Arsenal serve 6.3 corners per game. 
• The hosts get an average of 2.2 yellow cards per game, while the visitors receive 1.2.
• Three or more goals have been scored in 4 previous games of Nottingham Forest in the Championship.
• In the last 12 matches in the EPL Forest have drawn only once (3 wins and 8 losses).
• In the five previous home games in the Premier League, Nottinghamians lost 4 times (there was still one win).
• Arsenal have conceded in 6 of their last 8 games in the league.
• Away Londoners can not win in three consecutive away matches in the EPL (1 draw and 2 defeats).
• The Gunners have not scored more than 1 goal in 5 out of 6 previous away games in the Premier League. 

What has been said before the match:

Nuno Espírito Santo about playing against Arsenal and changed on the transfer market:

“Arsenal are one of the best teams around, we know the quality of their players, their manager. We expect a tough match. We want to compete well against a good team. We have to defend well and we have to attack. We have to go for the game.”

 “As a club we are active, we are trying to reach our targets. It is clear what we want and what we need, but it is a tough window to operate in. It is sometimes not possible to get what you want, so we are waiting for developments.”

Gaffer of the Gunners Mikel Arteta ahead of EPL clash:

“I see what we can manage with our preparation and this is what we have tried to do against a team with a manager who I know really well. It’s going to be extremely competitive and we’ve had some really bad experiences over there in the last two seasons, so we’re going to have to be really good to beat them.”

“When the team performs the way we did and lose games, I was hoping that it would not carry on the way it did, but this is football and it can still happen, but I was very confident that it was coming because I could see the team, the way it was playing, performing, and how upset and angry they were not to have what we deserved. As well, I think it was a motivation after the break to put it right and get back on track.”v

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Prediction:

Arsenal, if they are to stay up with Manchester City and Liverpool in the championship race, need to win by any means against the underdogs of the English Premier League, especially after very unnecessary points losses over the course of the season. Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff have worked on their mistakes during the break, and the thrashing of Crystal Palace on the 20th of January suggests that the Red-Whites are approaching the match of the 22nd round with full confidence and vigour. Martin Ødegaard and Co. are looking to break the unfortunate trend of away games (winless since 5 December; 4 matches). 

The Foresters looked very good in their first games under Nuno Espírito Santo. However, this emotional surge caused by the changes on the coaching bridge quickly faded away. Nottingham Forest is understaffed due to injuries (4 players in the infirmary) and the Africa Cup of Nations (6 players involved), which is affecting results. Moreover, unlike the Gunners (2 matches played in January), the Foresters are facing a very packed schedule this month (4 matches in 19 days). Now again, the hosts have hardly had enough time to prepare thoroughly for their upcoming opponent. They are facing a vastly superior opposition that plays a very versatile, dominant and press-orientated football that requires a lot of footwork to deal with. Surely, Arsenal’s coaching staff spent plenty of time to develop a carte blanche on Nottm Forest.

Despite the poor statistics of away head-to-head games with Nottingham in recent years, we believe that Arteta’s team have every chance to win. After all, in terms of personnel problems, freshness, current game form, and the quality of performers Londoners are in a much more advantageous position. In addition, an extra motivation will be the desire to avenge last year’s failure at the City Ground. 

We expect a lot of attacking action from the Gunners (an average of 1.5 goals scored per 90 minutes on the road in the EPL), but at the same time we will not rule out a goal from the underdogs, taking into account the totals that have been registered in the Foresters’ matches in recent weeks (six of their last seven meetings have seen at least three goals scored). 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Arsenal will win and the match total will be over 2.5.

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