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18 min And he hits a defender, failing to impart the necessary elevation. Arsenal are one of four sides yet to score from a set-piece this season – and Forest are another.
16 min This feels like a Mikel Merino kind of game; his ability to find space and finish is missing from Arsenal’s midfield. Anyhow, Saka slows Williams down, moves away, wears the foul … and that’s a yellow card. A little harsh, but Rice now has a chance to swing over a free-kick.
15 min “Last week Forest controlled possession against Palace but messed up so many of their chances in losing at Selhurst Park,” says Eric Peterson. “I actually like Forest’s chances today as much as I did last week. It’s more in their DNA to make the opponent drown in their possession and catch them out on their break, no matter who the manager is. And with Arsenal’s occasional tendency to possess without thinking ahead on how to use it, that could play into Forest’s hands. Unless Arsenal take the lead, in which case please disregard all this.”
Without Gibbs-White, though, that tactic loses a lot of what makes it work: an individual able to make the difference, while also contributing physically. For now, though, they’re defending well.
13 min I’m not surprised Glasner insisted Forest deliver him Munoz, who was the batter of his Palace team, stretching and creating. He makes his first run forward, but without any support is easily unloaded.
11 min Better from Arsenal, building through the middle and quick pokes from Guimaraes and Odegaard finding Eze … who runs the ball into touch. I get strong Cunha vibes from him: a player better suited to being the man in a less good team rather than operating in concert as part of a system.
10 min A Saka cross is deflected and rears up, arcing under the bar and forcing Sels to claw away, then Arsenal build again.
9 min Forest are looking at Delap to pull off or challenge the last line, but does he have the feet for that? I’m not sure.
7 min The pattern looks set, Forest sitting back and daring Arsenal to break them down. They need, in mine, to get Guimaraes higher and Odegaard on the ball, but for now are moving the ball wide to try and open opportunities from there.
5 min As Arsène Wenger liked to say, an “internal solution”. Meantime, Arsenal probe for gaps the, when Forest clear, Delap puts Konsa under pressure; can you guess what happens next? Yup, he barges through him as cute as Coldplay, and allows the defender to escape a potentially tricky situation with a free-kick.
3 min “You mentioned that the Arsenal’s midfield and attack aren’t strong enough,” says Bill Hargreaves. “Any particular areas or ideas for upgrade?”
The midfield is strong enough and, with Odegaard playing well, it probably has just enough guile – even if it lacks goals. Up front, they tried for Vincius, who stopped where he was, opting not to risk on a player they weren’t certain was better than what they have. At some point soon, Dowman will too good to leave out…
1 min Forest will, of course, miss Gibbs-White, who, though he’s scored only once this term, is the player who elevates them. Meantime, Odegaard sends Havertz away down the right, but his cross is overhit.
1 min Away we go!
James Kerry, a young Forest fan who died of a brain tumour, struck up a friendship with Morgan Gibbs-White and is being celebrated with a round of applause. His parents and younger brother are on the touchline; godspeed, people.
Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come. Or, as Peter Drury would say, HERE! THEY! COME!
Artetz says your capacity to react to going behind, as Arsenal have in their last three league games, is part of the game. He knows Glasner is an extraordinary manager who’ll have Forest organised, so “you have to insist and insist” – that’s a lovely phrase.
Glasner says Arsenal good at managing space and being patient, waiting for chances. They defend well as a team, but he thinks his team can create two or three chances and see what happens.
Email! “I don’t want much from this Arsenal team,” writes Charles Antaki. “All I ask is they score a couple of goals early, dominate the other team into hopeless submission, then entertain us all with a fine sporting display of skill, inventiveness, charisma and more goals. I’ve been watching their games for years, and have ground my teeth through long anxious matches enough times to qualify for a bit of credit in the bank. Winning the league last year was all very well, but I want to sit back and wallow in pure unadulterated enjoyment. Isn’t it about time they did the decent thing?”
They’re trying, but they don’t yet have the class in midfield and attack to take teams apart in that way – especially given that, though the standard at the top of the Prem is relatively low, from immediately below that and all the way to the bottom, it’s never been higher.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Calafiori today. The freedom he has to make things happen evidences a developing total footballer – and, on the other side, I think Timber can be a less powerful but more skilful version of the same. I wonder if, at some point, we see Rice drop a bit deeper to make three centre-backs – which might also facilitate the ball-carrying that is his best attacking attribute.
How good are Brighton? It’s early to think about a title challenge, but a top-five spot feels realistic – and if give their talent ID Champions League money, you could be talking about something very serious.
That said, Arsenal still have plenty of ways to win a scrappy one, the box-crashing of Calafiori and Rice hard to track and, given their physicality, hard to match. And, if things don’t go as planned, there are options on the bench to change things/
Forest will want – and probably need – to make this game a mess. If it’s open and played through midfield, Arsenal will open them up because, with the guile they’ve added by buying Guimaraes, along with an in-form Odegaard, they have the ability to exploit space. For that reason, Forest need bodies everywhere, especially in the middle of the pitch, forcing them wide, where Saka might just’ve lost the spring in his acceleration following last season’s achilles injury while, on the other side, Eze isn’t going to go on the outside.
Elsewhere, 10-man Sunderland trail Bournemouth 2-0 with seconds remaining, while Brighton have splattered Palace 5-0 to move second above Arsenal, their goal difference +18. Ridiculous behaviour.
It’s finished 1-1 at Elland Road.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will look for Odegaard to make their play, directing attacks with the direction of his passes. Saka will reckon he can get at Murillo, and hit the by-line, with Havertz pulling off for cut-backs, while Eze wanders infield to look for little passes in behind.
So where is the game? Forest will look to play into and off Delap; he’ll be looking to pin a centre-back and lay off for McAtee and Ndoye to run at the Arsenal defence. Otherwise, they’ll want Munoz to target White and Williams to attack the space Calafiori vacates when going off on adventures and look to hit Delat the near post. Otherwise, expect to see Delap initiating contact in exchange for some cheap cheers celebrating his pashun.
Arsenal, meanwhile, make six changes to the side that handled Lille in midweek, Arteta reaping the benefits of having a full squad built to his specifications.
At the back, Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori replace Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly; in midfield, it’s Burno Guimaraes, not Mikel Merino; and in front of him, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz replace Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres.
Back to those teams, Forest make two changes the side undressed at Crystal Palace last weekend, Ola Aina and the injured Morgan Gibbs-White dropping out, with Jair Cunha and Nicolás Domínguez coming in. Nikola Milenkovic, absent since the week of September, returns to the bench.
Also going on:
Teams
Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1): Sels ;Jair Cunha, Diomande, Murillo; Muñoz, Schlager, Domínguez, Williams; McAtee, Ndoye; Delap. Subs: John Victor, Sangaré, Hudson-Odoi, Wood, Kalimuendo, Yates, Netz, Milenkovic, Aina.
Arsenal (4-3-3-): Raya; White, Konsa, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimarães, Rice, Ødegaard; Saka, Eze, Havertz. Subs: Meslier, Mosquera, Timber, Gyökeres, Madueke, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Ashington)
Preamble
Arsenal spent the summer trying to by forwards and rightly so: they lack elite attacking quality, and well though they’ve done over the last few seasons, it has unarguably cost them.
The best summer acquisition though, was not a player, but the Premier League trophy or, more pertinently, the status of champions, also known as freedom. It meant they didn’t need to fritter money on someone they knew at the time wasn’t of the standard they were seeking in the hope they might contribute a key moment or two which pushed them over the edge. Instead, they could attack the season with confidence and without the desperate pressure of flailing failure, developing a style that could made the eyes bleed into a knowing, aggressive flow.
Of course they’re still a magician and matchwinner short but, in the meantime, they’re still much better than they were. These days, a tousing at Brighton can happen to anyone, so what’s of greater significance is the response: a comeback win against a confident and physical Leeds, then a Champions League win with a rotated team. Or put another way, Mikel Smugteta is an even better manager than Mikel Angsteta, and just as freakishly intense.
Forest, meantime, have made a confusing start to the season, decent performances at Liverpool and Villa undermined by home defeats to Leeds and Coventry, the latter then followed last week by a gubbing at Palace. They are surely far too good to become embroiled in a relegation struggle, but the possibility will linger as long as the identity of those who are not remains unclear, while only Spurs have mustered fewer than their five league goals.
All of which makes for some pure, uncut and concentrated “this league” action; let’s get involved.
Kick-off: 4.30pm
#Nottingham #Forest #Arsenal #Premier #League #live #Premier #League
