Key events
Arsenal are making a change, Madueke for Eze. They’ll hope he can keep maximum width and stretch the play, opening space for Calafiori to underlap.
Half-time email: “Arteta’s risk aversion has served him and Arsenal well,” reckons Kári Tulinius. “If Pep Guardiola hadn’t been playing with house money, he’d have a lot more silverware on his mantelpiece. But it can sometimes be counterproductive. For example, in terms of each individual match, the sensible thing to do is to start Declan Rice, because he’s the best Arsenal have got at dead ball deliveries. However, he seems to be permanently a tick below full fitness these days, which makes him less effective in open play. By contrast, Luis Enrique, Jürgen Klopp and Zinedine Zidane both have a high tolerance for risk.”
Yes, I agree – Arteta has been given the funds to build near-enough two teams, so the profiles he has are his choice. And that’s part of today’s problem, but I also think the players need to take responsibility and move the ball quicker, with more risk in their passing. We’ve not seen much of the full-backs in attack, either; can they get forward to create 2v1s?
Half-time entertainment:
ShareHALF-TIME: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
No shots on target and very little good football. A blinder it is not.
45+3 min And the do, heading clear before Murillo’s hopeful hooked shot trickles through to Raya.
Updated at 12.19 EDT
45+2 min McAtee spreads to Williams, whose cross is blocked behind and, with Guimaraes off the pitch having taken treatment blocking the free-kick, they’ve got to defend the corner with 10.
45 min We’ll have two additional minutes.
45 min McAtee makes to run over it but backheels inside to change the angle, then Williams curls hard into Guimaraes and the ball sails behind.
44 min Oh, but Forest counter, a long pass out to Delap allowing him to run at the Arsenal defence, twisting to confuse Konsa before Rice brings him down. Free-kick, just outside the D, left of centre … Williams and McAtee behind it.
43 min This is not good. Arsenal lack the quality and profile of players to get quick combinations going and could, I think, do with Lewis-Skelly’s dynamism and desire to commit defenders.
40 min At no point of this half has a goal looked likely. But a clever reverse-pass from Rice – more of these, please – sends Havertz into the box, his shot always going wide of the near post.
38 min On Havertz, he’s more a big-game striker, I think, good at moving defenders about and a reliable finisher when the pressure is on, than he is a regular centre-forward. His goal record just isn’t good enough and he doesn’t have the pace to threaten the last line; I actually wonder if he might work as an attacking midfielder, because hie has the feet to conjure – when he broke through at Leverkusen, he was more magic man than target man.
Kai Havertz of Arsenal challenges Xaver Schlager of Nottingham Forest. Photograph: Ryan Browne/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 12.28 EDT
37 min Arsenal win a corner out on the right, 25 yards from goal, Rice judges an outswinger into the corridor of uncertainty and Havertz is up … but he mistimes his jump, heading wide.
35 min McAtee, celebrating his 24th birthday, curls the corner directly into Raya’s gloves.
35 min Good from Delap, Schlager controlling a dropping ball well before the centre-forward bustles through a challenge, his shot from distance deflected behind.
33 min “Charles Antaki: ask and you shall absolutely not receive,” writes Sean Orlowicz.
The last few minutes have been better, I think, but Arsenal need to move the ball quicker and stretch the play more. They also lack one v one ability – we saw the same with Man United in one of our early games – which makes it hard when facing a set defence.
31 min Of course, as I type, he lofts a fine first-time pass over the top from centre to right – if he did that much more often, we’d not be having the conversation below – but White shanks the eventuating cross behind.
30 min Declan Rice has some fantastic attributes, but his work with both Arsenal and England illustrates the difficulty of balancing a midfield with him in. He doesn’t have the technique to take the ball off the defence – Arteta signed Zubimendi partly for that reason – but going forward, there’s not enough quality on the ball. So in games like this one, when there’s not much call for the big-space work at which he excels, an auxiliary attacker like Merino might make more sense.
29 min Saka again goes near post, but picks out a defender then, when the ball comes out to Odegaard, his inswinger is easily collects by Sels.
28 min Arsenal take a quick throw and Guimaraes wins a corner; he’s starting to influence proceedings.
26 min A flat corner and near-post flick causes confusion – classic Arsenal, but from another era – and Gabriel, facing his own goal, backheels, but into Konsa, and Forest clear.
25 min Again, the outlet is Saka, whose cross is headed behind for a corner. Last season, this would have the ground going.
24 min The buzz you get from knowing you’re good, though, is the calmness to know that if you’re patient, secure at the back and keep doing the right things, the chances will come. I’d just like to see a bit more risk in Arsenal’s play, off the ball as much as on it. Rice and Bruno have done almost nothing going forward.
23 min So far, not much has happened. Forest will be delighted with that, Arsenal less so. Can they get Calafiori going? His runs from deep are hard to track and might make an extra man in attack.
20 min The corner picks out Murillo at the back post; he heads down … and wide, but the flag goes up for a foul of some sort. There’s then a pause as Murillo is bleeding near the corner of his eye, but he’ll be fine.
19 min Calafiori is short with a pass back to Gabriel and Ndoye sends Munoz away. His cross is deflected and Delap does well to recycle at the back post, Ndoye, now on the left, shooting wide of the near post … with the help of a defection.
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.
Eberechi Eze of Arsenal runs with the ball under pressure from Jair Cunha of Nottingham Forest. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 12.02 EDT
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!
Declan Rice of Arsenal walks out onto the pitch before the match. Photograph: David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 12.10 EDT
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:
Updated at 10.35 EDT
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)
SharePreamble
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