Premier League action returns on Saturday (12.30pm) when we take on a new-look Nottingham Forest side, as we aim to lay down a marker by returning to winning ways ahead of seven fixtures crammed into 21 days.
The first sees us host a Forest side processing the stunning news this week that saw Nuno Espirito Santo replaced in the dugout by Ange Postecoglou, who will look to revitalise a team who have lost five of their last 11 league matches as a potential Champions League spot slipped away in the latter weeks last term.
The Tricky Trees will arrive in N5 unbeaten in their last four Premier League away games – all of which came in London. However they have never won at Emirates Stadium, or indeed tasted any success in our corner of north London since 1989. Maintaining that will be imperative for Mikel Arteta as we look to build momentum in these important early weeks.
Forest fire Nuno
Despite overseeing an incredible campaign last term that saw Forest finish seventh in the Premier League to clinch European football for the first time in 29 years, behind-the-scenes unrest saw Nuno depart on Monday, and was swiftly replaced by another former Tottenham Hotspur boss in Postecoglou the following day.
The Aussie takes the reins of a side who have won, drawn and lost their first three games, beating Brentford at home on the opening day before a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on their only road fixture so far. Nuno’s last match saw them beaten 3-0 by West Ham United, as the winds of discontent circled the City Ground.
As usual there was a flurry of activity surrounding Forest’s squad this summer, with ex-Gunner Omari Hutchinson their biggest outlay at a club record £37.5 million. Swiss forward Dan Ndoye cost £34 million from Bologna, while big money was also splashed out on James McAtee from Manchester City and Lens striker Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Douglas Luiz and our own Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived on loan as part of a £171 million shopping spree, a big portion of which was offset by the sales of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United and Danilo, who returned to Brazil with Botofago.
What the managers say
Arteta: “After a defeat, you want to have a game in the next three days, get it out of the system. But at the same time, I look at the players’ international duties and how they’ve grown. I feel pride because they can lose a game and they can go to the national team, they can click again, perform and most of them win and they’re very important.
“With Ange, his biggest strength, in my opinion, is the way he’s been. He has put his fingerprints on that team, and he has a very clear way of playing, very clear DNA and are extremely good to watch. I’ve learned a lot from him, and it will be a very difficult game. The moment the game starts, after five minutes, we will see very clear behaviours, what they want to do, and that’s what we have prepared.” – read every word from Mikel’s pre-match press conference
Postecoglu: “I don’t see it as a point to prove. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I do like my teams to play exciting football and score goals and get fans excited. I’ve got to convince every person in the building about what we’re trying to do on the back of them doing something a certain way and having success that way.
“It is fair to say it’s not going to happen overnight; it’s a process that will take a little bit of time, but never at the expense of competitiveness. None of my beliefs are going to get in the way of us making sure the team is prepared to win on a Saturday.”
Team news
Bukayo Saka continues to be out of action after picking up a hamstring injury against Leeds United three weeks ago. William Saliba missed international duties with France courtesy of the ankle issue that forced him off against Liverpool, but he did train on Friday and could return.
In more good news for Mikel Arteta, Christian Norgaard and Ben White were also pictured back in training this week and could be fit enough to feature, but Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are both missing with their knee injuries.
Postecoglu’s first team selection won’t include Oleksandr Zinchenko as he’s ineligible to make his Forest debut against his parent club, while his full-back options are limited further as Ola Aina picked up a hamstring injury playing for Nigeria on Monday and will be out for months.
Meanwhile, Argentine midfielder Nicolas Domínguez is also unavailable as he continues to recover from knee surgery back in May.
Talking tactics
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: Postecoglou’s arrival should not impact Forest’s usual 4-2-3-1 shape. He preferred a 4-3-3 at Spurs but his expansive style is virtually the polar opposite of the compact, counter-attacking approach that worked so well under Nuno.
Forest had already begun evolving their style of play. They averaged 57% possession in their first three games, and only Chelsea and Manchester City have made more successful passes – last season, Forest ranked last in that department! However, Postecoglou’s preference for holding a higher line could create uncertainty, and only three teams had faced more shots on target than Saturday’s visitors, a sign they have not yet found harmony in their off-the-ball work.
Wingers Dan Ndoye and Callum Hudson-Odoi are a handful, and the former has scored and assisted already, so his menace off the right flank will need to be contained. Pulling the strings in between those two is Morgan Gibbs-White. His eye for a killer pass is well-known, so we must try to stop talismanic midfielder Elliot Anderson from feeding passes into his feet.
Set pieces were a major asset for Forest in 2024/25, when they scored the most goals from dead balls. As it stands though, they have had the fewest attempts from set plays – just four this season, while we may find joy against them in the air, as the Tricky Trees have faced 12 headed shots so far, the most in the division.
Facts and stats
We have won our last six home games against Nottingham Forest by an aggregate score of 19-2. We are unbeaten in 14 games on home soil against them since a 3-1 defeat back in March 1989.
Forest have won just two out of 16 Premier League matches against us, and both wins came at the City Ground, in 1996/97 and 2022/23.
Among current Premier League sides, only Fulham (12) are on a longer run without a clean sheet than Forest (11); away from home, Forest have gone nine without a shutout since keeping three in a row in December and January last season.
Two of the three sides to make the most high-intensity pressures in the final third this season are Nottingham Forest (301, 2nd) and ourselves (280, 3rd), with Viktor Gyokeres (76, 2nd) and Chris Wood (72, 3rd) also in the top three among players for that metric.
Forest have made the most passes ending in the final third this season (471) and have played the most passes into the box (114) of any side. Forest also top the charts for crosses (85) in 2025-26, with their average of 28.3 per game far higher than their average last season (16.3 per game).
Following his brace against Leeds, Viktor Gyokeres could become just the third player to score in each of his first two Premier League home appearances for us after Marouane Chamakh (2010) and Alexandre Lacazette (2017).
Chris Wood has only made more Premier League appearances without scoring at Anfield (8) and the Etihad (7) than he has at Emirates Stadium (6).
Morgan Gibbs-White has made more Premier League appearances (8) without registering a single goal or assist against us than he has against any other side.
Match officials
Darren England has been appointed to this fixture, his first appearance in N5 since our 1-0 win against Ipswich Town last December. His only other Gunners game last term saw us draw 1-1 with Everton in April, where he gave a contentious penalty to the hosts.
He has issued nine yellows and awarded one penalty in his two top-flight matches this term, but he has pointed to the spot in three of his last four matches in all competitions.
Referee: Darren England
Assistants: Scott Ledger, Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth official: Oliver Langford
VAR: Andy Madley
Assistant VAR: Marc Perry
Forest’s recent visits
The Tricky Trees haven’t enjoyed visiting Emirates Stadium, as they have lost on all four occasions they’ve played at our home, conceding 15 times and netting just once. That miserable record continued when we ran out 3-0 victors last November when Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri all scored during a routine win.
The season before saw Forest head to our home on the opening day of 2023/24, and we made a winning start as an Eddie Nketiah strike and a Goal of the Season clincher from Saka secured a 2-1 win over Steve Cooper’s side.
The year before was Reiss Nelson’s day as he came off the bench to score twice during a 5-0 success in October 2022, with Gabriel Martinelli, Partey and Martin Odegaard also netting – the same scoreline as on the Reds’ first ever visit in September 2019, a night remembered for Martinelli bagging his first Gunners goals in League Cup action.
Live coverage
Tune into Live From N5 from an hour before kick-off on Arsenal.com and the official app where Nicole Holliday and Jeremie Aliadiere will get you hyped for the game with all the best build-up!
Fomer Gunner Yaya Sanogo joins us to give his take on the current club, Roman Kemp is back in the studio to talk about a very important Premier League initiative, and PFL World Tournament Lightweight Champion Alfie Davis teaches Jeremie a thing or two in the cage!
We caught up with Declan Rice at media day to chat about his summer and to test his reflexes, while our supporters’ memories are put to the test in our Time Capsule game.
Then after a packed pre-match schedule, live kick-by-kick commentary is provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke – don’t miss it!
You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live wherever you are in the world.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
