Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal LIVE: Mikel Arteta's side struggling to find breakthrough

2026-10-18 · FootballLondon

football.london will bring you live coverage from the City Ground where Nottingham Forest host Arsenal (4:30pm) in the Premier League

The City Ground has not been a happy hunting ground for Mikel Arteta, who has won just one of his five visits to Nottingham Forest as Arsenal manager.

His team, however, travel to the East Midlands in fine form after swatting aside Leeds and Lille on the back of the international break.

Arsenal will be keen to close the gap on Manchester City with victory but Arteta is also likely to have one eye on Wednesday's Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.

Midfielder Martin Zubimendi is pushing to return while the Gunners will be without Piero Hincapie, Christos Tzolis and William Saliba as they look to return back to north London with all three points.

You can keep posted on all the action below.

Big chance for Havertz

Kai Havertz has the best chance of the half as he heads over from close range.

Declan Rice's free-kick is on the money but Havertz cannot keep his header down, nodding over.

That was a very good opening.

Arsenal go close from corner!

Arsenal's first corner of the afternoon causes chaos in the Forest box but still, the Gunners cannot convert.

A backheel from Gabriel Magalhaes hits Ezri Konsa and is eventually cleared.

Murillo down

A nasty scene here as Murillo is treated as blood trickles out of his ear.

Looks a nasty one for the Brazilian. Let's see if he can continue.

Forest go close!

Nottingham Forest probe after a rare mistake from Riccardo Calafiori.

He under hits his pass, Forest capitalise and the move eventually sees Dan Ndoye squirm a deflected effort into the side netting.

From the following corner, Murillo goes close but Michael Oliver blows up for a foul.

Williams booked!

Neco Williams is into the book for bringing down Bukayo Saka.

Saka has started well on the right and has looked threatening.

Arsenal go close!

Bukayo Saka's looping cross forces Matz Sels into action as he tips the delivery away from goal.

It was dropping either in or into a rather dangerous spot at the far post.

Aggressive Forest

Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes have been under a fair bit of pressure in the opening exchanges.

Liam Delap and Dan Ndoye are attempting to rough both up.

Both teams pay emotional tribute to young Forest fan James Kerry

There was an impeccable applause overseen pre-kick off for late Forest fan James Kerry, the brave young hero who tragically passed away aged nine following his battle with brain cancer.

A very touching moment.

Both teams are also wearing black armbands.

Kick-off!

We're underway at the City Ground.

Porter supporting Raya and Meslier

18-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Porter has just been warming up with David Raya & Illan Meslier at the City Ground.

He is obviously not named in the squad but it's good experience for the teenager in the absence of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arsenal's set-piece dry spell

Arsenal scored 25 non-penalty set-piece goals in the Premier League last season.

Their 19 from corners was the most ever by a team in a single campaign.

But this time around it's been slightly different. In fact, drastically different.

They haven't found the net from a set-piece - excluding penalties - yet this term in the top-flight.

Perhaps that could change today.

Line-up analysis

A big call from Mikel Arteta as Eberechi Eze gets the nod ahead of Noni Madueke at left-wing.

It's not entirely surprising given how well Eze played in the second half against Lille on Tuesday.

This is a big opportunity for him to kick on following a frustrating start to the season.

If he plays well today, it's his spot to lose. At right-back, it's no major surprise to see Ben White return, either.

He's fresh after resting against Lille and while Jurrien Timber was excellent in midweek, he's not quite ready to play every game.

White has also been in great form since the start of the season.

The Arsenal team in full

Confirmed Arsenal team

- Starting line-up: Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Eze, Havertz

- Substitutes: Meslier, Mosquera, Timber, Gyokeres, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman

Predicted XI

Not long until team news at the City Ground.

One of the big calls Mikel Arteta has to make is at left-wing where Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke are both pushing to start.

Don't forget, Arsenal head to Munich on Wednesday evening and five of their next six matches are on the road.

Afternoon

And welcome to out coverage of today's huge clash between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal.

We'll be bringing you all the build-up, team news and action as it drops.

Stay tuned...

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