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

Still fighting on all four fronts, Premier League leaders Arsenal venture north for Saturday's Premier League scrap with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

The Gunners emerged 3-2 victors in Wednesday's EFL Cup semi-final first leg with Chelsea, a few days after the Tricky Trees' excruciating FA Cup exit to Wrexham.

Match preview

In almost identical fashion to their five-goal success over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, Arsenal certainly did not make life easy for themselves on Wednesday night, when Mikel Arteta's men could and should have defeated a depleted Chelsea by more than just the one goal.

Alejandro Garnacho's brace off the bench gave Liam Rosenior's men a pair of lifelines at Stamford Bridge, but Arsenal's narrow victory nevertheless means that the Gunners will be firm favourites to finish the job at the Emirates in three weeks' time, raising hopes of a long-awaited springtime final.

Any victory on Wednesday would have been momentous for Arsenal, as the Gunners have now won a game of a two-legged semi-final for the first time under Mikel Arteta, who had tried and failed to do so on eight occasions previously.

Also taking down Portsmouth 4-1 in the FA Cup last weekend, Arsenal have responded emphatically to their frustrating top-flight stalemate with leaders Liverpool, albeit one that kept them six points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the table.

The Sky Blues can cut the deficit in half by besting Manchester United in Saturday's lunchtime derby, but an immediate response will be expected from the league leaders, who boast a marvellous nine wins and a draw from their last 10 games in all tournaments.

Furthermore, Arteta's men are on a stellar five-game winning streak away from home and have scored at least three goals in four of those triumphs on the road, including in each of their last three.

On the other side of the knockout coin, Nottingham Forest are mourning their FA Cup dreams after succumbing to the spot-kick superiority of Wrexham, who dumped Sean Dyche's men out at the first hurdle for the Premier League club.

A frenzied 3-3 draw preceded a nail-biting shootout, in which Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson were both denied by Arsenal academy product Arthur Okonkwo, as Forest fell to their fifth loss from six games in all tournaments.

A seething Dyche laid into his side's dreadful first-half display before praising those who made a difference in the second half, albeit to no avail, as the Tricky Trees were sent crashing back down to earth after a morale-boosting 2-1 Premier League success at West Ham United.

That basement battle triumph moved the 17th-placed hosts seven points clear of the relegation zone, but they are now welcoming Arsenal to a ground where they have already lost six Premier League games in 2025-26 - one more than they suffered in the entirety of 2024-25.

Ange Postecoglou's Forest were also comfortably beaten 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates in September, marking their third straight Premier League game without a goal against the Gunners, their longest-ever dry spell against Saturday's visitors in the competition.

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):

Arsenal Premier League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Team News

Arsenal duo William Saliba and Leandro Trossard shook off knocks to start Wednesday's semi-final, but Piero Hincapie (thigh), Riccardo Calafiori (muscle), Max Dowman (ankle) and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) remain out for weeks.

Arteta did not hesitate to go for broke against Chelsea, and the Spaniard should put out as strong a team as possible at the City Ground too, before rotating for what will likely be an inconsequential Champions League clash with Inter Milan.

Viktor Gyokeres's goal and assist at Stamford Bridge guarantees another start for the Swede over Gabriel Jesus, but FA Cup hat-trick hero Gabriel Martinelli and number one David Raya could be reinstated to the XI.

Meanwhile, Forest cannot call upon ineligible left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko against his parent club, but the Ukrainian is out of favour anyway and could supposedly even have his loan terminated during the January window.

Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are back available following the Africa Cup of Nations, and the long-serving Ryan Yates is also in full training after a thigh injury and on course to be fit for the weekend.

However, Chris Wood remains sidelined despite making progress in his rehabilitation from a knee issue, as does goalkeeper John Victor, who has had to undergo a minor operation in the same area.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli

We say: Nottingham Forest 1-3 Arsenal

When Arsenal's defence is not at full strength, the Gunners can be exposed, but never before has a Dyche team scored more than one Premier League goal in a game against the North London side.

Even if the Tricky Trees can make the City Ground nets bulge, any effort will surely be a consolation, as an Arsenal outfit with a taste for goals on the road maintain their healthy advantage at the top.

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