English Premier
2025-02-26 - Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 26th February 2025 - Kick Off 7:30pm
This game is live on TV
Nottingham Forest
Nuno Espirito Santo was extremely frustrated at the end of Nottingham Forest's defeat at St James' Park on Sunday and the reason for that was two-fold. Firstly he was not happy with his players for the first half collapse which left them with all to do in the second half, and the manager also felt the officials let his Nottingham Forest team down by only adding three minutes at the end of the ninety minutes as his team pushed for an unexpected equaliser.
After all was said and done, Nottingham Forest were beaten 4-3 and have been left in 3rd place in the Premier League table, but with rivals for the Champions League spots closing in behind them. The focus has to be on their own results though and Nottingham Forest have a 7-3-2 record at the City Ground this season as they prepare for this big Premier League fixture.
Nottingham Forest have won 1 of their last 5 games in all competitions in normal time, although they did manage to squeeze past Exeter City in the FA Cup Fourth Round on Penalties in that time too. The defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday means Nottingham Forest have lost 3 of their last 4 Premier League games as the momentum has slowed. The Tricky Trees have suffered all of those defeats away from home though and the team have won 5 of their last 6 League fixtures at the City Ground.
A full squad is available to the manager as he looks for a big reaction following the Premier League loss on Sunday.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta admitted he was 'angry' after the 0-1 home defeat to West Ham United on Saturday and it is a result that has almost certainly ended Arsenal's hopes of winning the Premier League title. With Liverpool beating Manchester City on Sunday, The Gunners are suddenly 11 points behind the League leaders and even the game in hand is not expected to make much of a difference now.
With the team already out of both domestic Cup competitions and with a tough Champions League path laid out in front of them, Arsenal fans are going to be frustrated with what will feel like a missed opportunity this season. The side are still 2nd in the Premier League table, but it says everything that 7th placed Chelsea are closer to Arsenal in terms of points than The Gunners are to leaders Liverpool. They head to the Midlands on Wednesday with a 7-4-2 record away from the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal have scored 24 goals and conceded 12 in those matches.
Arsenal have won 6 of their last 9 games in all competitions, but the defeats suffered to Newcastle United in the League Cup Semi Final Second Leg and the home loss to West Ham United on Saturday really hurt. Since losing to Inter Milan at the San Siro, Arsenal have won 7 of 11 away games played in all competitions, while the side have won 4 of their last 5 away Premier League fixtures.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off on Saturday and this time he will be serving a suspension having had his red card at Wolves rescinded last month. Ethan Nwaneri should be available, but the youngster is being asked to play more minutes than Arteta would have hoped with key attackers all sitting on the sidelines.
Head to Head
Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season.
Nottingham Forest had beaten Arsenal 3 straight times at the City Ground, but the run was snapped in a 1-2 defeat here in January 2024.
Prediction
Both of these teams suffered disappointing Premier League defeats this past weekend, but the loss suffered by Arsenal looks to have had a serious impact on their ambitions for the season.
That is not to say that Nottingham Forest would have accepted their defeat at St James' Park, but the fact that the likes of Manchester City, Bournemouth and Chelsea were all beaten this weekend has lessened the impact of their defeat at Newcastle United.
Arsenal cannot say the same after falling 11 points behind leaders Liverpool and that gap looks almost impossible to close with twelve League games left to play.
Unsurprisingly, Mikel Arteta was 'very angry' following the home loss to West Ham United as Arsenal's lack of investment in the final third came home to roost.
You cannot account for the injuries that have been suffered by attacking players and the long-term absentees that those have become, but Arsenal have long looked like a club that needed more in the final third. Fans were not very happy with the lack of investment last summer, but that frustration will have built tenfold after the injuries picked up in January still failed to see the club look to sign players to offer The Gunners more firepower.
Late goals saved Arsenal at Leicester City, but the game against West Ham United underlined the issues in the final third and they look a very short priced favourite to win at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest have just been stumbling recently and they have not looked as assured at the back, but those issues have been in matches played away from the City Ground. At home the team continues to produce their best results and immediately the feeling is that Nottingham Forest are a huge price to win this game.
They have had some recent defensive issues, but Nottingham Forest have continued to score a lot of goals and you would find it hard to make a serious case for Arsenal to score at least two goals here, which will be needed to win the game.
Backing Nottingham Forest to win looks awfully tempting, especially at the prices.
Liverpool needed to come from behind to earn a point in a recent trip to the City Ground, while the likes of Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have been beaten here. Newcastle United recovered to win at the City Ground back in November, but Arsenal are struggling in the final third and you have to believe that Nottingham Forest can deal with the set piece threat better than most.
Honestly, after results this past weekend, Arsenal may just be arriving with a lack of confidence while Nottingham Forest finished strongly at Newcastle United and were unfortunate to lose.
That could leave Arsenal vulnerable to another setback in the race for the title, which already looks run as far as Mikel Arteta's men goes, and the home team are a very big price to win.
Backing them to avoid a defeat is reasonably priced too and either option would make a lot of sense.
At the prices, the recommendation has to be backing Nottingham Forest to avoid defeat, but there is too much of a temptation in the price to ignore backing The Tricky Trees to win here and that has to be worth a small interest on Wednesday evening for the braver punters out there.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Arsenal
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Nottingham Forest + 0.5 Asian Handicap at 1.90 with Bet365
