Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Prediction: Tricky Trees can pick up another result

Arsenal will be looking to end their four-game winless streak in the Premier League when they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday (15:00). Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and his players will have felt the international break came at the right time but they have work to do in the title race. 

Forest head here off the back of a home defeat to Newcastle United, but they had won three on the spin before that encounter. Read on for my Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest prediction, including match odds and team news.

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Odds

Arsenal are 4/11, or a 73.3% chance, to get back to winning ways here. Nottingham Forest are valued at 17/2 to take the three points, giving them an implied probability of 10.5%. The draw is marketed at 4/1 (20%).

Both teams to score is on offer at 11/10 and over 2.5 goals can be backed at 8/11.

Forest striker Chris Wood has eight goals in the Premier League this term, and he is 16/5 to score anytime on Saturday.

Arsenal's Kai Havertz has four for himself and you can back him at 8/5 to find the back of the net at the Emirates.

Football Odds

Team News

Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice both withdrew from the England squad for the November camp due to injury, and it remains to be seen if they will be available for selection at the weekend.

Leandro Trossard was taken off injured on international duty with Belgium and he is likely to miss out against the Tricky Trees on Saturday. Arteta is also hoping for good news on Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney after their recent injury issues.

For Forest, Ola Aina returned to the East Midlands early from the international break after playing for Nigeria against Benin Republic, although that is thought to have been pre-arranged and not an injury problem. Ibrahim Sangare, Elliot Anderson and Danilo are all doubts to feature at this stage due to a lack of fitness.

Winger Anthony Elanga had to withdraw from the Sweden national team due to injury, so he too is a doubt to feature at the weekend, which could present an opportunity for either Jota Silva or Ramon Sosa.

Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo are set to continue at the back, having formed a good partnership in the heart of the defence. Top scorer Wood is likely to lead the line despite a lot of travelling, having been away with New Zealand over the international break.

Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White look set to join him in keeping their places in attack.

Draw @ 4/1

The Newcastle defeat was a surprising one for Forest given how well they have started the season, but it doesn't feel like that the train has come to a halt. They've had two weeks to address what went wrong after going one nil up in that game, and boss Nuno Espirito Santo will look for an instant response against Arsenal.

He will be making the case that the Gunners are vulnerable. They are winless in their last four league matches and the Tricky Trees are level with them on points, and I'd argue that they have been much more impressive than their hosts in the first 11 games of the campaign.

Arteta will have welcomed the international break because his team needed a break because nothing was going for them, and they didn't look anything like the side we have grown accustomed to over the last couple of years.

He will be hoping that this reset will serve them well for the next stretch of fixtures, in which they need to drastically improve to keep their title hopes alive. Having captain Martin Odegaard back from injury will be a huge boost for him, and Arteta will be glad that the Norwegian wasn't selected for international duty so that he could be preserved and ready to go for the next batch of matches.

I think we could see an improved performance from them, but if they are going to be missing the likes of Saka, Rice and Trossard for this one, they will be missing more key players. Their attacking options are already much less than their rivals, so Arteta could be presented with a big problem at the weekend against a side going strong.

Although, Arsenal have not lost at the Emirates in their last eight Premier League matches there, so I think they might be able to avoid a defeat, but it won't be easy if their key men are absent.

I like the look of covering a draw for this clash because Forest will be heading here with confidence despite the loss to Newcastle, and they will be looking to profit against a potentially depleted Gunners squad. I think Nuno and his players would take a point here, whereas it wouldn't be ideal for the hosts.

Both teams to score @ 11/10

My other selection would be both teams to score. Arsenal have scored in all of their home matches in the top flight to date, and BTTS has been a winning selection in four of their five fixtures here.

Those four matches have been in a row, so a trend has been unfolding in N7 and I think it will continue against Forest. The Tricky Trees have found the back of the net in all five of their away matches so far and both teams have scored in three of them.

Striker Wood is in excellent form in front of goal, and he will be relishing the chance to face an Arsenal side that have looked vulnerable in recent weeks, and who haven't registered a clean sheet in two months.

Havertz is the leading marksman for the Gunners, and he could have a lot more responsibility thrust upon him in this game. He was denied a goal against his former employers Chelsea last time out after VAR intervened, and he will be desperate to end his four-game goal drought.

He's been unlucky in recent games, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him have some better fortune on Saturday.

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