Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Predictions

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest predictions for this Premier League fixture. Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off, with Mikel Arteta’s side favourites against Ange Postecoglou’s visitors at the Emirates Stadium. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips

Premier League | Sep 13 2025 at 12:30 pm UK at Emirates Stadium

Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Predictions

Will Arsenal’s Control Be Enough to Break Forest’s New Era?

• Arsenal’s possession game feeds corners
  • In each of their opening three matches Arsenal averaged more than seven corners, reflecting their territorial dominance and constant pressure in wide areas.
• Forest’s clean sheet drought tells a story
  • Forest have gone eleven Premier League games without keeping a clean sheet, conceding in every away fixture since early January, highlighting defensive disarray.
• Saliba absence linked to frailty
  • When William Saliba missed eight matches last season, Arsenal conceded in seven of them, leaking eleven goals in total and losing defensive solidity.

Best Bet for Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest

The Premier League weekend opens in the capital, with Arsenal welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates for Saturday’s early kick-off. On paper it looks straightforward, yet there’s more drama swirling around this clash than the odds might suggest. Arsenal are chasing the top spot, eager to bounce back from a late heartbreak against Liverpool, while Forest are in the middle of yet another revolution, having just swapped Nuno Espírito Santo’s pragmatic football for the bold, high-octane vision of Ange Postecoglou. It’s a case of stability against chaos, of a manager who preaches calculated control against one who thrives on unpredictability.

Forest arrive in North London with four points from their first three games, but the shadow of their 3-0 home collapse to West Ham still lingers. Postecoglou has barely had time to shake hands with his new squad, let alone drill them into his notoriously demanding system. That makes them something of a mystery box here. Will they already start charging high up the pitch, leaving gaps behind, or will the Australian wait before releasing the handbrake? Whatever he does, Forest’s defensive record is alarming—eleven straight league games without a clean sheet tells its own story. And now, without Ola Aina and Oleksandr Zinchenko, plus Nicolas Dominguez unavailable, their backline has all the makings of a patched-up experiment rather than a sturdy defensive wall.

Arsenal, meanwhile, had their perfect start spoiled at Anfield by a thunderbolt free-kick, yet the underlying numbers tell us Arteta’s side were hardly passive. More shots, more possession in dangerous areas, more control—everything except the only number that matters. But let’s not sugarcoat it either: injuries are already biting hard. William Saliba’s ankle issue leaves a gaping hole, Gabriel Jesus is nowhere near a return, Kai Havertz is sidelined, and Bukayo Saka is unavailable. Arteta will turn to Cristhian Mosquera in defence, and Eberechi Eze looks set for a first league start in Arsenal colours. That could bring flair but also risk, especially with Forest’s pace out wide.

Still, the Emirates has been a fortress for Arsenal against Forest, and the home side know victory would briefly restore them to the top of the table. It’s set up as a contest of Arsenal’s discipline and control against the unpredictability of a Forest side embarking on a brand-new chapter.

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Best Bet: Arsenal To Win Both Halves & Arsenal Most Corners In Each Half

Here at BettingTips4You we don’t scatter predictions left, right and centre like confetti at a wedding. We choose one single selection per game, the one we believe carries the strongest value. That way you don’t have to scratch your head deciding which bet to pick, and we can stand by our record without hiding behind “well one of the six came good”. For this match, the standout choice is Arsenal to win both halves and to register the most corners in each half at odds of 7/2. It’s bold, it’s ambitious, but it’s also grounded in the evidence of how these sides line up.

Forest’s defensive frailties are impossible to ignore. Eleven matches without a clean sheet, shipping three to West Ham, and consistently allowing opponents to get shots away. Add the fact that they are missing two full-backs and forced into a reshuffle, and it looks highly unlikely they can hold out for any extended period. Arsenal, for all their injury concerns, remain one of the most possession-heavy sides in the league. That dominance not only creates goalscoring opportunities but inevitably leads to corner after corner. Against Liverpool, even in defeat, they won the territorial battle, constantly pinning the champions back. At the Emirates, where they dictate tempo more comfortably, that pattern should only intensify.

Winning both halves demands consistency rather than just moments, and Arsenal’s structure is built around exactly that: patience, control, and then strikes in carefully chosen moments. Viktor Gyökeres has already shown he can be the reference point up front, feeding off service from the flanks. With Eberechi Eze injecting creativity and Martin Ødegaard orchestrating play from midfield, the Gunners have the tools to stretch Forest thin. Even without Saka and Havertz, Arsenal’s rotations and movements are likely too much for a Forest defence that looks cobbled together.

Corners are where Arsenal’s style really comes into play. They rack up territory and sustained pressure, leading to repeated deliveries into the box. Riccardo Calafiori in particular has developed a knack for surging forward from left-back, and his presence creates additional chances for set-piece situations. Forest, under Postecoglou, will not suddenly become a team who shut games down. If anything, they are likely to leave themselves exposed, conceding space down the flanks where Arsenal’s full-backs and wide players thrive. That’s a recipe for corners galore.

Of course, there are dangers. Without Saliba, Arsenal have looked vulnerable, conceding in seven of the eight league games he missed last season. Chris Wood is a physical handful, and Morgan Gibbs-White can deliver moments of quality. Forest might find the net, especially if Arsenal lose concentration. But to beat this bet, Arsenal don’t need a clean sheet. They just need to stay on the front foot and continue carving open chances across both halves. Given the gulf in midfield quality—Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi should comfortably outmanoeuvre Ryan Yates and Danilo Anderson—the home side should dictate tempo from start to finish.

As Emmanuel Nwankwo, our BettingTips4You.com Premier League expert, puts it:
“This isn’t about Arsenal simply winning—it’s about relentless territorial control. Forest are too fragile to hold out, and Arsenal’s style naturally produces corners. Winning both halves and corner dominance go hand in hand.”

In terms of a scoreline, a 3-0 Arsenal victory looks a reasonable projection. Forest have enough to trouble an injury-hit defence, but their lack of cohesion at the back combined with Arsenal’s home superiority suggests a comfortable margin. A couple of goals either side of half-time would fit neatly with the bet, and Arsenal’s superiority in set-piece volume should seal the second part of the selection. It’s ambitious, yes, but it fits the story of this contest.

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