Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest – 12:30pm, Saturday 12th August
Arsenal will play host to Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday and we’re predicting the visitors can cause some chaos.
Arsenal will kick-start their Premier League campaign with an uncomfortable-looking fixture against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Date, KO time and TV coverage
Premier League, Saturday, August 12, Kick-off 12:30pm, live on TNT Sports 1
Predicted score
Arsenal 3-2 Nottingham Forest
Suggested bets:
Team news
Gabriel Jesus (knee) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) are confirmed absentees for Arsenal which limits them both in attack and tactically.
Albert Sambi Lokonga (muscle), Reiss Nelson (ankle) and Jorginho (muscle) face a race against time while Folarin Balogun’s future at Arsenal is up in the air.
Omar Richards (groin), Felipe (knee), Wayne Hennessey (knee) and Moussa Niakhate (elbow) are unavailable for Steve Cooper, who is hoping target man Taiwo Awoniyi can play a part.
Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest betting preview
Arsenal kick off their Premier League season with a home game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which appears to be a simple match on paper.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men were less than convincing during pre-season, whatever that’s worth, and have a habit of making a slow start to the season.
Forest were tragic on their travels in the early stages of last season but eventually found a formula, pushing Liverpool among others close and discovering their shooting boots.
Steve Cooper’s team scored eight goals in their last seven games and were unlucky not to beat Brentford and Chelsea.
Saturday’s curtain raiser is a free shot for the visitors while expectations will be high with another title push expected at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have started the last four seasons on their travels but it’s their first home match that seems to present as a major stumbling block.
Sunderland (0-0), Aston Villa (1-3), West Ham (0-2), Liverpool (3-4), Man City (0-2) and Chelsea (0-2) have enjoyed some North London hospitality since the 2012/13 season.
In addition, four goals in the final five minutes of games have spared their blushes against the likes of Burnley, Leicester and West Ham United.
Their history on opening day, and the more dramatic victories at home last season, paint the picture of a team that doesn’t do it the easy way.
Arteta will be without the services of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko this weekend, both of whom take the Gunners to another level.
Nottingham Forest’s only away win of the 2022/23 season came against relegated Southampton, 1-0, so it’s still a stretch to suggest an upset here.
It does however stand to reason that if a recently promoted team are going to catch a title contender cold, it’s likely to be early on in the season and with key players missing.
So much of the visitor’s struggles can be attributed to their gargantuan squad and Cooper trying to find the right formula and balance.
They certainly found that towards the end of the season and it gave Morgan Gibbs-White, Brennan Johnson and Taiwo Awoniyi a platform to threaten on the break.
There’s no reason they can’t carry that newfound stability into the new season and it’s worth noting they have opened the scoring in eight of their last 13 in 2023.
Arsenal averaged 2.80 goals per game at home last season but they also managed to fall behind in 37% of their Premier League matches.
It’s never easy to predict when a shock of this size could happen, and as likely as the Gunners are to win, we want to be realistic about the visitor’s chances of making things awkward.
We expect Cooper’s men to strike on the break and play their part in a high-scoring game. Over 3.5 goals and both teams to score look like worthwhile bets.
