England Premier League
Tuesday 30th January 2024
Kick off at 7:30pm GMT
Venue: City Ground
Match Preview:
Nottingham Forest could only draw 0-0 with Bristol City in their FA Cup fifth round tie so they will have to squeeze in a replay but they will be at home. But this week the Premier League kicks off again after a staggered winter break and Forest are in 16th place with 20 points. The appointment of Nuno Espiro Santos has seen the club beat Newcastle and Manchester United recently although they did lose 3-2 away to Brentford in their last game. Forest’s form has improved but they are only 4 points from the drop. The objective for Santo has to be home form that will keep the club up and there were encouraging signs in their last home game with a victory over Manchester United and that ended a losing streak of 4 games in a row.
Arsenal are in 3rd place with 43 points and have the same points as 2nd placed Manchester City and are 5 points shy of league leaders Liverpool. Aston Villa are waiting to go past the Gunners so it is incredibly tight up there and simply no room for error. Arsenal had a decent break in the last few weeks as they were knocked out by Liverpool in the FA Cup third round, they did get to play 10 days ago as they destroyed Crystal Palace 5-0 at home. The performance and goals to boot is what manager Mikel Arteta needs to see his side do to teams who are in the bottom half of the table. Currently Arsenal has the 4th best away record in the league with 17 points won from 30 they have won 50% of their games on the road. However one concern will be that the Gunners have gone their last 3 games away from home with no victories and we would have to go back to their epic 4-3 win over Luton for their last win on the road which was almost two months ago.
Team News:
Nottingham Forest: Ola Aina, Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Ibrahim Sangare, Chiekou Kouyate and Moussa Niakhate are all on international duty. Nuno Tavares cannot meet his parent club. Divock Origi will be assessed but remains a doubt with a muscle issue. Anthony Elanga is only 50/50 due to a thigh injury, Felipe is expected to miss out due to a hamstring injury. An update on Taiwo Awoniyi suggests that he won’t return for another 10 days at least with his on going groin injury.
Arsenal: Mohammed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both on international duty. Declan Rice will be assessed for a muscle injury. Gabriel will be assessed for a slight knock, Fabio Vieira has recovered from injury but has a lack of match fitness and is only 50/50 to be ready for this game and may not be risked. Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey remain out long term
Nottm Forest vs Arsenal Head to Head:
Last season Nottingham Forest won this fixture 1-0.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Arsenal won 2-1.
In four meetings from the last seven we have seen over 3.5 goals.
Nottm Forest vs Arsenal Prediction:
Nottingham Forest will be looking to get back to winning ways after such a bright start under Santo. The problem of course is that they are about to face one of the best clubs in the league and one of their biggest tests of the season. We believe that at home Forest can give Arsenal a game and both teams to score looks like being a solid market to back.
Arsenal need to show more aggression on the road because if they are not able to challenge for the title it will come down to these type of games where one would expect them to win even if it is away from home and yet they end up coming away with a loss or a draw. Too many draws even when you are chasing Liverpool and Manchester City is not going to cut it. We expect the Gunners to have a fright here but also to come away with the three points, but they will have to dig deep. Arsenal are the odds on favourites but make no mistake this is another big test for them.
Nottm Forest vs Arsenal Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (-1 Arsenal) at 1.54
Anytime goalscorer: Eddie Nketiah at 2.60
Anytime goalscorer: Martin Odegaard at 4.00
Both teams to score at 1.91
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