English Premier
2025-09-13 - Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 13th September 2025 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV
Arsenal
The manager will have faced some criticism for the 'negative' tactics employed at Anfield, but Mikel Arteta may have felt justified as the game ticked past the 80th minute. However, Arsenal were not able to hold onto a point in the last Premier League fixture and so there will have been plenty of noise around the decisions made by the manager and whether he 'got those wrong'.
It is very early in the season to be panicking about a single defeat, but Arsenal are about to embark on another tough month between international football breaks and won't want to lose more ground on reigning Champions Liverpool. The Gunners play first this weekend and are back at the Emirates Stadium where they beat Leeds United in the opening home League fixture last month.
Arsenal won both opening Premier League fixtures with clean sheets and had won 4 in a row in the top flight before seeing that run ended in the 1-0 defeat at Liverpool two weeks ago. The side had failed to win any of 4 games played at the Emirates Stadium in all competitions at the back end of last season, but Arsenal will be looking for a third straight Premier League victory here this weekend.
Ben White and Christian Norgaard are hoping to be part of the squad this weekend, but William Saliba is a doubt. Both Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz are also expected to be missing for the home team.
Nottingham Forest
After reports had come out about Nuno Espirito Santo's future as Nottingham Forest manager after just a single game of the new season, it has felt like a matter of time before a decision would be made to part with the manager. Losing 0-3 at home to West Ham United before the September international break perhaps sped things up and Espirito Santo was indeed Sacked as Nottingham Forest manager during this past fortnight.
The Tricky Trees will be playing in the Europa League this season and soon appointed the last manager to pick up that trophy when handing the job to Ange Postecoglou, who also has links with the owner. He takes over a Nottingham Forest team with bigger expectations than twelve months ago and Postecoglou will be looking to build on that over the coming months.
Nottingham Forest have had a mixed start to the new season with 4 points gained, but the last result was a real disappointment as they conceded three late goals to struggling West Ham United at the City Ground. The first away Premier League game ended in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and does mean Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in 4 away League games dring which time they have won twice.
The squad looks ready after returning from international commitments, although a new manager could have new ideas about which players are important to him.
Head to Head
Arsenal picked up four points from the League meetings with Nottingham Forest last season and kept clean sheets in both matches.
The game at the Emirates Stadium ended 3-0 in favour of the home team.
The Gunners have won the last 6 matches hosted against this opponent.
Prediction
After the successes of last season, it was a real surprise to hear Nuno Espirito Santo talking openly about not really being on the same page as the owner and higher-ups in the Nottingham Forest hierarchy in a press conference last month.
It became inevitable that there would have to be a parting of the relationship and so that was the case during the September international break.
In comes Ange Postecoglou.
There is a previous relationship between Postecoglou and Evangelos Marinakis, but there will be a lot of pressure on the former to match the successful 2024/25 season, never mind actually surpassing it.
The former Tottenham Hotspur manager will take charge of Nottingham Forest for the first time on Saturday and it will be at the home of Arsenal so expect a pleasant welcome for him.
Mikel Arteta's team are also looking to bounce back from a disappointing result before the September internationals when they were beaten 1-0 at Liverpool in a tight fixture. The manager has had to face some criticism for the tactics, especially as they fell short of achieving his goal, and Arsenal need to bounce back ahead of a competitive month of football.
A more positive approach will be expected, even without Bukayo Saka, and Arsenal do have home advantage.
You cannot expect a massive change of approach from Nottingham Forest immediately and so the feeling is that the visitors will rely on the counter attack to try and hurt Arsenal on the break. This was a successful approach under the previous manager against some of the top clubs, although Nottingham Forest failed to score against The Gunners in either game last season.
The question for Arsenal is whether they can produce enough in the final third to hurt the away team- the chance creation from open play has been disappointing in August, while Nottingham Forest have a big team that will feel they are comfortable in dealing with any set pieces that Arsenal will look to exploit.
It certainly makes it feel like it will be a tight, competitive fixture on Saturday with both managers having little time to work with returning players. A new manager bounce is potentially dangerous, although the gut feeling is that Arsenal may find just enough in the final third to win a relatively low-scoring fixture.
None of the last five Premier League games between these clubs have ended with more than three goals shared out and so backing Arsenal to win a fixture featuring fewer than five goals looks a decent enough price to get behind.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Arsenal 2-0 Nottingham Forest
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Arsenal to Win & Under 5 Total Goals (Bet Builder) at 1.66 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)
