Preview: Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

A Nottingham Forest side at risk of three straight losses host an Arsenal unit seeking a third straight victory in Sunday's Premier League showdown at the City Ground.

Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace return last weekend was a harrowing one as his side fell to a 3-1 defeat at Selhurst Park, whereas the Gunners most recently put three past Lille in the Champions League without reply.

Match preview

The second-half show has been the theme for the Premier League champions in recent weeks, as Arsenal have now failed to score in the first half of each of their last five games across the top flight and Champions League, but only once fatally.

Bouncing back from their catastrophic Brighton & Hove Albion beating in the best manner possible, Arsenal exhibited their powers of recovery in last weekend's 2-1 success over Leeds United, one that briefly drew them level with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

However, the charges-ridden Citizens restored their three-point lead at Anfield the next day, although whether Enzo Maresca's men will even be in a positive points total in a few months time is another question entirely.

In the meantime, Arsenal remain laser-focused on their on-field matters and head to the City Ground on the back of their ninth win from 10 games in all tournaments this season, as Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka contributed to a seven-minute slaughter of Lille in Europe.

Where their formerly trusty set-pieces are failing, Arsenal have found a new dimension from live as opposed to dead balls; each of the Gunners' three goals on Tuesday came from open play, and 20 of their 21 in all competitions have been non-set-piece - the highest ratio of any Premier League team.

Failing to replicate Arsenal's feats on the scoring front, Nottingham Forest head into gameweek seven of the 2026-27 season as the joint second-worst attacking side with just five goals to their name - only superior to Tottenham Hotspur's three.

However, Glasner's profligate men only had themselves to blame in last week's reverse to the manager's erstwhile employers Crystal Palace, as Forest fashioned eight big chances in the capital but put just one away.

There is only one instance of a team having more big chances in a Premier League game yet ending up on the losing side - Blackburn Rovers (9) vs. Newcastle United in 2012 - and the Tricky Trees have under-performed on the xG front by a whopping 5.3, the worst total of its kind in the league.

Glasner's side now lie 15th in the rankings and just two points clear of the drop zone, but the Austrian's domestic downfall began before his summer switch; the Forest boss has won just five of his last 29 Premier League games in charge of either Palace or the Garibaldi, losing 15 of them.

Forest can fall back on an eye-catching record of just one defeat from their last six home games against Arsenal, who have been held to 0-0 draws at the City Ground in the last two seasons, but the Gunners are unbeaten in six and have kept clean sheets in four straight games vs. the hosts on the flip side.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Team News

© Iconsport / David Klein, Sportimage

Neither Piero Hincapie nor Martin Zubimendi were involved in Arsenal's victory over Lille after sustaining ankle injuries in the warm-down to last weekend's win over Leeds, and Arteta has conceded that the former faces weeks out.

The Ecuadorian is one of three guaranteed absentees for the visitors alongside Christos Tzolis (hamstring) and William Saliba (back) - although the latter is training individually again - but Zubimendi is "much, much better" and may be in with a chance of a swift return.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard should not push for a place in Arsenal's starting XI, which the likes of Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz will return to after game-changing cameos in the Champions League.

On Nottingham Forest's end, Glasner has delivered an unexpected and worrying update on Morgan Gibbs-White, who sustained a minor muscular problem at Selhurst Park and is a doubt for the weekend, having not trained at all before Friday.

The potential absence of Gibbs-White would deprive Forest of the man who has created the most big chances (seven) and open-play chances (15) in the league this season, while only Pascal Gross (18) has created more chances in total.

In brighter news, Nikola Milenkovic (knee) has returned to training and is in with a chance of featuring against the Gunners, but Igor Jesus (calf) and Nicolo Savona (knee) remain sidelined.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Diomande, Murillo; Munoz, Schlager, McAtee, Williams; Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Delap

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Rice; Saka, Odegaard, Eze; Havertz

We say: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Arsenal

Even if Gibbs-White is fit to start on Sunday - as he and Forest will do their utmost to ensure - the hosts' creative talisman will no doubt be operating at less than 100%.

Glasner's side often struggle to put away the chances Gibbs-White creates regardless, and with well-rested first-teamers returning, a third successive win surely awaits Arsenal.

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