ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PREVIEW - NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS ARSENAL

English Premier

2026-01-17 - Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 17th January 2025 - Kick Off 5:30pm
This game is live on TV

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Nottingham Forest

To say Sean Dyche was upset with those coming in to his Nottingham Forest team in the eventual FA Cup Third Round loss at Wrexham would be an understatement. The manager has made it clear that those who have thought about knocking on his door for more playing time should not bother after the Penalty Shoot Out defeat at the Racecourse Ground and leaves Nottingham Forest to focus on the Premier League and Europa League.

The owner would love to see the team make a real run at the latter and Nottingham Forest's win at West Ham United has given them some breathing room to potentially do that. They may still be 17th in the Premier League table, but Nottingham Forest are now 7 points clear of the drop zone and will be looking to keep the pressure on those below them by improving the 3-1-6 record at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest had lost 4 straight Premier League games and fell 1-0 behind at the London Stadium, but turned that fixture around in an important 1-2 win. The Tricky Trees have lost 3 of the last 4 Premier League games played at the City Ground, including a disappointing 0-2 defeat to Everton most recently.

Ryan Yates is hoping to be available, but John Victor and Chris Wood are set to miss out. Both Willy Boly and Ibrahima Sangare are back from the African Cup of Nations.

Arsenal

It was a very strong result, but not the perfect one for Arsenal in the League Cup Semi Final First Leg, although they remain big favourites to reach the Final after beating Chelsea 2-3 at Stamford Bridge. That competition can be put aside until next month and Mikel Arteta and his players can now focus on maintaining their strong position in the Premier League and Champions League.

They are 6 points clear of both Manchester City and Aston Villa in the Premier League standings, although Arsenal will be playing after Pep Guardiola's men this weekend and the gap could be much closer. None of that matters to Arsenal as long as they can keep winning and The Gunners take a 6-2-2 away record into this fixture.

Arsenal have now won 8 of the last 10 games played in all competitions since losing at Villa Park and have earned consecutive away Cup victories at Portsmouth and Chelsea. The side have also won back to back away Premier League games ahead of this fixture in the East Midlands.

William Saliba and Leandro Trossard face fitness tests to determine availability for this fixture. Riccardo Calafiori is expected to miss the rest of the month with an injury of his own.

Head to Head

Arsenal were very easy 3-0 home winners over Nottingham Forest back in September in what was the first game of Ange Postecoglou's incredibly short tenure at the City Ground.

Since returning to the Premier League, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal have both beaten the other once at this Stadium, while the most recent fixture ended in a goalless draw in February 2025.

Prediction

There is definitely a lot more momentum behind Arsenal after recent performances compared with Nottingham Forest, but winning at the City Ground is rarely going to be easy.

Title rivals Manchester City needed a very late goal to beat Nottingham Forest here last month, although that is the third home defeat in 4 Premier League games played.

Sean Dyche is known for making teams a little more resilient, but he will be concerned that his side have conceded twice in each of those losses to Brighton, Manchester City and Everton and now they have to deal with the League leaders who have proven to have plenty of attacking depth.

Another edge with the visiting team is through set pieces, which have continued to be an issue for the Nottingham Forest defenders. The Gunners continue to cause havoc with great deliveries and players capable of getting on the end of those and Gabriel stands out at a big price to score or assist at 4.50 with the sheer threat he poses every time a set piece is delivered into the box.

Arsenal have shown a bit more from open play in recent games with the Liverpool fixture being the exception.

Mikel Arteta has players who can come off the bench and have a big impact on a match and the pace and quality of the counter could see them have too much for a struggling Nottingham Forest.

Nothing ever comes easy and Arsenal will need to make a strong start to get on top of the hosts as soon as possible- Nottingham Forest have also shown they can pose significant threats if they are allowed to hang around and that may just focus the League leaders to win a fixture in which they need to score at least twice to secure the points.

The Pick :

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Arsenal

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Arsenal to Win & Over 1 Total Goal (Bet Builder) at 1.83 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)