Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Prediction & Preview
Nottingham Forest lost 0-1 at home to Coventry City on 19 September, and that single result tells you more about Sunday's Premier League meeting with Arsenal at the City Ground than anything else in either side's recent run. Arsenal come to Nottingham having beaten Lille 3-0 at home in the UEFA Champions League on 13 October, 5 days before this match. Kick-off is 16:30 BST on Sunday 18 October 2026.
- Fixture: Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
- Competition: Premier League
- Date: Sunday 18 October 2026
- Kick-off: 16:30 BST
- Venue: City Ground, Nottingham
Forest's home record, in three scorelines
Oliver Glasner's side have played three matches at the City Ground in their last six games and scored in none of them: 0-0 against Tottenham Hotspur on 5 September, 0-1 against Coventry City on 19 September, and 0-2 against Leeds United in the EFL Cup on 25 August. Two of those were defeats.
That is the context Arsenal walk into.
Crystal Palace away was not an improvement
Forest lost 1-3 away to Crystal Palace 7 days before this match, which at least broke the scoring drought. The defending did not improve with it. Across those six games Forest have scored 5 and conceded 9, and three of the six ended in defeat.
Where Forest's five points came from
The run is not all bad, and the good parts are specific: a 2-1 win away at Aston Villa on 12 September, a 2-2 draw away at Liverpool FC on 29 August, and the goalless home draw with Tottenham. One win, two draws, three defeats, 5 points.
So Forest can live with a strong side. They did it at Anfield. What they have not done lately is score at home.
Arsenal have won five of their last six
Mikel Arteta's team have taken 15 points from their last six matches, winning five, scoring 12 and conceding 6. They beat Leeds United 2-1 at home 8 days before this match, then put three past Lille without reply.
The one blemish is a heavy one: 0-3 away at Brighton & Hove Albion on 19 September. Otherwise they have travelled well, winning 2-0 at Sunderland, 1-0 at SSC Napoli and 4-2 at Ipswich Town in the EFL Cup.
Team news for Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal
Nottingham Forest are without Igor Jesus, Nikola Milenkovic and Nicolo Savona, all through injury, with no suspensions in the squad, according to Goal.
Arsenal are missing William Saliba and Christos Tzolis and are otherwise reported to have a clean bill of health, per the same Goal preview. Saliba has been doing individual sessions and Arteta said "we're still talking about weeks" before he rejoins the group, as reported by Daily Cannon on 13 October.
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal prediction
Our prediction for Nottingham Forest v Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday 18 October 2026 is an away win for Arsenal at the City Ground. Forest have scored once in their last two matches and not at all in their three home games in this run, while Arsenal have 15 points from six and have scored 12 in that time. The Brighton defeat says Arsenal can be taken apart, but it took a performance Forest have not produced at home yet.
Our prediction: Nottingham Forest 0-2 Arsenal
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