Premier League: Arsenal to Get Back on the Winning Trail against Forest

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

Arsenal will hope to get their faltering Premier League title challenge back on track next weekend when Nottingham Forest are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium.

At a SBOTOP price of 4.00, the Premier League 2024 betting odds still make Arsenal third favourites to win on the title and hot on the heels of league leaders Liverpool and Manchester City; but the league table tells a different story. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners drew 1-1 with Chelsea last time out, a decent result but one which left them in fourth place and nine points behind the leaders.  

Meanwhile Nuno Epsirito Santo has led Nottingham Forest to a superb start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign and they are flying high in fifth place, but they went into the international break with a 3-1 defeat at home to Newcastle United and I’m backing the Gunners to give them another hard time on Saturday.   

 

Talking Points

Odegaard return is welcome relief for the Gunners

Arteta has been dogged by quite an injury crisis during the first third of this campaign, not least the absence of inspirational skipper Martin Odegaard who picked up a nasty ankle injury while playing for Norway. He has been out for two months and 14 matches so Odegaard’s cameo return against Inter Milan two weeks ago was great news for Gunners fans. He followed that appearance up with a strong performance against Chelsea, when he made as assist for Gabriel Martinelli and played the full 96 minutes.

He’s done so well to come back strongly after such a long lay off and Odegaard’s fitness is a crucial factor in Arsenal’s title hopes, as there isn’t much good news elsewhere in the physio room. Arteta must be wondering when his luck will change after he received the news that another attacking midfielder, Leandro Trossard was substituted in the first half while playing for Belgium against Israel this week. It looks like he’ll join the sidelined Riccardo Calafiori, and Kieran Tierney while Arteta will hope that both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are fit to play after they were both withdrawn from England duty.     

They are not yet as good as the famous Arsenal Invincibles of 2004 but the current talented group of Gunners would be closer if they had a full squad to pick from. The return of Odegaard certainly makes a big difference though.  

 

Just how good is Wood?  

October’s Premier League Player of the Month Chris Wood is a throwback to centre forwards of old. At 6ft 3in he is a powerful unit, strong in the air and with a cool head in front of goal. He’s been a handful for defenders in the Premier League, particularly during his time at Burnley where he scored 49 goals in 144 appearances, and now, at 32 years of age Wood is in the form of his life. He isn’t a particularly quick player, he makes few assists but he does the job he’s paid for, leading the line with authority and hitting the net when the chance arises. And Wood is the first New Zealander and the first Nottingham Forest player ever to be named Premier League Player of the Month, but with eight goals from 11 league appearances he is hard to ignore. For a player of Wood’s profile to dominate the Premier League 2024 news, even for a day, is quite an achievement and no defence in the league will take him lightly, as he’s a big reason why Forest are flying so far, along with the pace of Anthon Elanga and Nuno’s defensive organisation. 

During the international break Wood bagged another five goals for the Kiwis to take his tally to 41 from 80 internationals…he certainly has the taste and the Gunners rearguard will need to stand tough to keep him quiet.      

 

History

Arsenal have won ten of their 16 most recent encounters with Forest, losing four and drawing two, and they did the double in this fixture last season.

With three wins, one draw and two defeats Forest have been in slightly better form than the Gunners who have won two, drawn two and lost two of their last six games.

Arsenal’s home record of three wins and two draws is identical to Forest’s away record, but the East Midlanders have not won on any of their last seven visits to the Emirates Stadium, losing 2-1 on the opening day of last season.      

 

Betting Tip

Arsenal are red hot favourites at odds of 1.30 to win this match with the draw at 4.62 and a Forest victory at 7.62.

A 2-0 win to the Gunners at 5.60 is the most likely outcome and, with little room for error in their title chase, I think Arteta’s men will be focussed and ruthless against a team which has overachieved so far.    

   

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