Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal: 3 key battles as Mikel Arteta looks to end City Ground misery

Arsenal have the opportunity to make it nine wins from their first ten matches across all competitions this season when they visit Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners strolled to a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night at the Emirates against Lille in the Champions League. After a stodgy first half, the cavalry arrived in the second half and subsequently delivered the three points. Goals from Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka did the job, keeping the positive momentum around Mikel Arteta's side going.

Forest will be a completely different challenge for the Spaniard's outfit. The East Midlanders have endured a difficult start to the season, accumulating just five points from their opening six matches, but the underlying numbers suggest they've been one of the better teams in the league.

Oliver Glasner's team will sit in a compact mid-block and look to hit Arsenal with aggressive counter-attacks after winning the ball back in the middle of the pitch. This style of play has often been the Gunners' kryptonite.

What makes this trip more daunting for Arteta's men is their dismal record at the City Ground in recent times. The Premier League Champions have won once in four games at this stadium since Forest secured promotion back to the top flight, failing to score in three of these matches.

With that said, here are the key battles that we believe could be pivotal in dictating the outcome of the game in the East Midlands.

Morgan Gibbs-White vs Declan Rice

Glasner's football requires an aggressive passer from midfield. At Crystal Palace, that man was Adam Wharton, whose primary role was to play quick forward passes as soon as the Eagles won possesion in the middle third.

At Forest, Morgan Gibbs-White has assumed this role, despite being a more advanced midfielder than Wharton. Glasner has given the England international this responsibility because he's the best passer in Forest's squad, and it's been effective so far.

If Arsenal want to negate the East Midlanders' threat, they'll need to cut the supply line from Gibbs-White to the likes of Dan Ndoye, Liam Delap and Daniel Munoz. Declan Rice will no doubt assume this responsibility, with Arteta likely tasking the imperious midfielder with aggressively tracking Gibbs-White's movements.

Daniel Munoz vs Riccardo Calafiori

Munoz is fulfilling the exact same role for Forest under Glasner as he did for the same manager at Palace. He's entrusted to be the extra man in the attack by making late darting runs beyond the opposition's full-back, before cutting the ball back or shooting if he receives passes from these runs.

The Colombian has become incredibly effective in this role, and will be one of Forest's greatest threats on Sunday. This could be an issue for Arsenal, who give Riccardo Calafiori the licence to push forward into all sorts of positions in the final third.

If the Italian vacates his position too much, it could leave the Gunners vulnerable on their left-hand side.

Neco Williams vs Bukayo Saka

Similarly to Calafiori for Arsenal, Forest grant Neco Williams the freedom to roam into central areas when they have the ball. This should mean that when the Gunners win it back, Saka should have plenty of space to exploit if they can find him early.

The other interesting aspect of this individual battle is Williams' right-footedness. Saka is usually up against a left-footed full-back/wing-back, meaning going inside on to his stronger foot makes sense.

However, Williams is outstanding at defending wingers whose preference is to come inside, as he plays on his weak side. Thus, Saka may be forced to drive to the byline much more than he'd like in this game, so his weak foot deliveries will need to be on point.

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