ARSENAL will be bidding to record back-to-back wins in the Premier League for the first time in almost two months when they face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Tuesday night.
After residing at the summit of the standings on Christmas Day, the Gunners’ ended 2023 with a couple of deflating defeats against London rivals West Ham and Fulham.
As such, Mikel Arteta’s men have dropped down to third place in the table, though they did get their title bid back up and running with a 5-0 crushing of Crystal Palace last weekend, in a game that brought up both of my bets.
Looking to keep pace with both Liverpool and Man City, the capital club can ill-afford a stumble when they take on Nottingham Forest this midweek.
After starting his tenure with a 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth, Nuno Espirito Santo steered his side to a pair of impressive wins over Newcastle and Manchester United.
However, the 16th-placed Tricky Trees have since been toppled 3-2 at Brentford, meaning that they will be looking nervously over their shoulders rather than upwards.
Outright Betting
Nottingham Forest came out on top in last season’s corresponding fixture but the same outcome here is as big as 15/2 (Bet 365) while a share of the City Ground spoils has been priced up at 4/1 (Ladbrokes).
Despite winning none of their last three Premier League away games, Arsenal are heavy 2/5 favourites at Bet 365.
Betting Angles
Arsenal are far too skinny for my liking on Tuesday night so I’ll instead head to the Bet Builder and back Arsenal to Score, Over 1 Nottingham Forest Corner and Orel Mangala to commit a foul at 5/6 (Bet 365).
Whilst Arsenal’s title charge has been derailed in recent months, they have only blanked in three of their 21 league games this season, netting in eight of their 10 road games.
What’s more, the Gunners hit five last time out so they can certainly land a blow against a Nottingham Forest side who are without a clean sheet in their last 10 top-flight assignments.
Given that the City Ground is one of the Premier League’s most atmospheric venues in the Premier League, I’ll boost the Bet Builder with a minimum of two Nottingham Forest corners.
Admittedly, the Tricky Trees have not been strong corner performers this term, but a mere two flag kicks is not a big ask, not to mention the hosts have covered the 2+ line in all four of their league games under Nuno.
To finalise the selection, I’ll go with Nottingham Forest midfielder Orel Mangala to commit a minimum of one foul during this Tuesday night tussle.
The box-to-box Belgian is averaging 1.2 fouls per-game in the top-flight this term, getting on the wrong side of the referee at least once in 16 of his 19 outings.
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I'll also back the aforementioned Mangala to commit two or more fouls at 6/4 with Bet 365.
This bet would have paid out in three of the Belgian’s last five top-flight appearances and the same selection looks worthy of interest on Tuesday night given the pace and flair that Arsenal possess in forward areas.
This English Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal will be played on Jan 30, 2024 and kick off at 19:30. Check below for our tipsters best Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
