Arsenal v Nottm Forest | Match Preview, Odds and Prediction
Arsenal won the Community Shield by beating Manchester City in the final last week and hope to continue their winning run when they host Nottingham Forest in their Premier League opener on Saturday, August 12. The Gunners are favourites to pick up all three points at the Emirates Stadium after finishing 14 places and 46 points better off in the table than Forest in 2022/23, so is this a home banker?
Arsenal narrowly missed out on the title last season, finishing second in the league with 84 points. The Gunners were the second-highest goalscorers with the third-best defence, so they won’t be easy for Forest to beat. Mikel Arteta’s thrashed Forest 5-0 in their last Emirates meeting, so Arsenal are 1/5 with Betfair to win again.
And although Arsenal have lost three of their last five head-to-heads with the Reds, those defeats came at the City Ground. Their previous two home meetings with Forest resulted in 5-0 wins, so Arsenal are 18/1 with William Hill to win by a 5-0 scoreline. Forest had the worst away record in the league last season, conceding more goals than any other club (44) while winning the fewest amount of games (1), so they might struggle in North London.
Forest narrowly avoided relegation last season, finishing 16th in the league with 38 points. Only three clubs conceded more goals than the Reds (68) and only three clubs won fewer games (9), but Forest are only convincing in their own backyard. Steve Cooper’s men conceded fewer goals at home (24) than Arsenal (25) at home last season, but the opposite has been true when they have to travel – beating Arsenal 1-0 at the City on May 20 and losing 5-0 in London on October 30.
With Arsenal scoring an average of 2.8 goals per game at home while Forest concedes an average of 2.3 goals away, Total Goals Over 2.5 is 4/9 with QuinnBet. And as for who will be scoring, Bukayo Saka had a hand in 25 goals from 38 league games last season, so he’s 11/2 with Boylesports to Score First. Gabriel Martinelli was Arsenal’s joint-top goalscorer last season with 15 league goals, so he’s 8/5 with Unibet to Score Anytime.
Forest will have a threat of their own in Taiwo Awoniyi after he hit double figures for league goals last season, so he’s 5/1 with Bet 365 to Score Anytime on Saturday. But Arsenal boasts five clean sheets in their last eight-head-to-heads at home to Forest, conceding only three goals for their trouble, so Arteta must fancy his chances of an easy win without his side shipping a goal.
Arsenal are 1/1 with Betfair to Win to Nil against Forest, which would make it their fourth win with a clean sheet from their last five games versus the Reds. Arsenal invested heavily over the summer to fight for the Premier League title and won’t want Steve Cooper’s men to ruin their first day. The Gunners haven’t lost a home game for Forest since 1989, so this fixture is a good omen.
Arsenal should Win to Nil against Forest and should bag plenty of goals in the process.
