By Bulldog Drummond
If you want to see the sort of optimism that so many Arsenal fans now lack, it can be seen from the fact that 48% of Forest fans voting in a Nottingham Post on line survey agreed that of course Forest could spring a surprise and beat Arsenal.
42% said it would be tough and 10% said they have no idea.
SeatPitch – a Forest website – says that 8000 Forest fans will be at Arsenal for what it calls “A glamour third round tie [that] has captured the imagination of a loyal fan base – along with reasonably priced tickets.”
Well yes, £10 a ticket for the away fans section is certainly reasonable. Is anyone giving Arsenal credit for this? No, of course not. This is Arsenal we are talking about.
Forest are unbeaten away this season (below is the league table based on away games only)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 12 |
| 2 | Bristol City | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Queens Park Rangers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | Swansea City | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 5 | West Bromwich Albion | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
Overall in the league they are also sixth, just two points behind the automatic promotion places.
Their one defeat came in the opening match of the season. Since then it has been nine unbeaten, including the two league cup games in which they beat Fleetwood Town and local rivals Derby County.
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 Aug | Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion | L | 1-2 | Championship |
| 10 Aug | Leeds United v Nottingham Forest | D | 1-1 | Championship |
| 13 Aug | Nottingham Forest v Fleetwood Town | W | 1-0 | League Cup |
| 17 Aug | Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City | W | 3-0 | Championship |
| 21 Aug | Charlton Athletic v Nottingham Forest | D | 1-1 | Championship |
| 24 Aug | Fulham v Nottingham Forest | W | 1-2 | Championship |
| 27 Aug | Nottingham Forest v Derby County | W | 3-0 | League Cup |
| 31 Aug | Nottingham Forest v Preston North End | D | 1-1 | Championship |
| 14 Sep | Swansea City v Nottingham Forest | W | 0-1 | Championship |
| 21 Sep | Nottingham Forest v Barnsley | W | 1-0 | Championship |
So they are on a roll and looking promising, although in the last five league games they have scored one goal each time except for one match when they got two.
Above all they will be encouraged by the last meeting between themselves and Arsenal in the FA Cup of 2018 where they won 4-2. Prior to that it was one win in 14 for Forest – that coming in 1996.
What sort of team will Arsenal put out? Well, presumably one not including any of the starters from the league game on sunday.
Both Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin have now played for the Under-23s – but that game was only on Friday so I can’t believe they will now be given a run out again, especially against a lower league club where the forwards and midfield will do anything to get the chance to be in another Forest team to beat Arsenal. Mesut Ozil clearly needs a game, and this match is five days ahead of the game against Man U so it could well be something for him to get back into the swing of things.
Other players most likely to be used are Martinez, as the backup keeper used for Cup games, Mustafi, Nelson, Smith Rowe and Martinelli. And some time we will see the return of Konstantinos Mavropanos but when I know not. Torreira could be used to hold the middle of the pitch together.
As for Maitland Niles my understanding of the rules is that yellow cards only count in the competition they are issued in, but red cards cross all competitions. So Maitland Niles is serving his suspension in this game. I think.
Here is a line up from the Star
Martinez
Bellerin Chambers Holding Tierney
Willock Torreira
Smith-Rowe Ozil Nelson
Martinelli
Arsenal Station give us a variation by dropping Ozil and Chambers – and I’d agree about Chambers… let’s not overplay him. Their version is
Martinez
Bellerin Mustafi Holding Tierney
Willock Torreira
Nelson Smith-Rowe Martinelli
Balogun
Last, this is for anyone looking for a ticket. It might be worthwhile taking some of the on line offers with a dollop of salt as with this one which was showing (at least yesterday) on the internet
I think it might be best to give that one a miss.
On-line offer (with a dollop of salt?)
A friend of mine managed to secure 2 tickets for the game against Man United next Monday, only to realise he is getting married on that day so cannot attend.
He has no objection to me finding a replacement so if you would like to go instead of him it’s at St Andrew’s Church in Brighton and the bride’s name is Sarah.
Officials:
> Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
> DARREN ENGLAND
> Timothy Wood and Daniel Leach
> Fourth Official : James Linington
—-
Merson is a cereal nut.
@Gord,
Darren England is one of the group of referees one step below the ‘elite group’ who we normally have on a weekly basis. It will be interesting to see how he performs, I’m sure that some of you will provide the feedback.
Officials:
> Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
> DARREN ENGLAND
> Timothy Wood and Daniel Leach
> Fourth Official : James Linington
Darren has done 6 games this season across all competitions. 1,0,2,2,0,4 for a total of 9 yellows (no reds). All yellows are Championship games.
Last season he did 31 games, with 119 yellow and 5 red. It doesn’t look like he did any games involving (then) EPL teams. He did 2 games with 7 yellow, 1 of 6 and many of 5. He did 1 game with only a single yellow, and many with 2 yellow.
—-
Merson is a cereal nut.
The Forest lineup is apparently out: Muric, Cash, Figueiredo, Robinson (c), Chema, Ribeiro Silva, Carvalho, Johnson Lolley, Adomah.
Subs: Smith, Milosevic, Grabban, Ameobi, Sow, Gabriel, Mighten.
No Carl. He is injured.
According to the Daily Mirror, owners of the gloriously bonkers Football.London the Arsenal team is
Martinez;
Chambers, Mustafi, Holding, Tierney;
Willock, Torreira;
Nelson, Ozil, Smith Rowe;
Martinelli
Big Daily Mirror headline
What TV channel is the match on?
Go down through 25 adverts and 15 lines of dribble and they say…
“The game will not be broadcast live in the UK”
These guys give journalism a bad name.
Bellerin on the beach
Word is that Forest are playing without a recognised striker
Let’s get some of those shots on target, or even in the goal!
COYG!
How to go Martinelli! Kill that duck on the right away. Good work Calum!
COYG!
Did Emile get kicked? Saka replaces him.
COYG!
Watching on Bein French 3 and impressed by the officials. They allow the game to flow without demanding the camera. The drop ball after Arsenal had put the ball out when Martinelli had a head injury is good officiating.
Arsenal kids are different class and Chambers is superb. Mustafi has been good so far.
Emile went to head the ball at goal and a defender came across. The clash might have been heads or shoulder but Emile went down & stayed motionless.
Good medical attention and safe reaction.
Reports are it was a clash of heads with Jack Robinson.
COYG!
Mid 60s minutes and Saka gets a couple of superb crosses in but both wasted by the recipients (Willock & Martinelli)
Holding just scores with a great header.
How to go Holding! Good work Reiss!
COYG!
Mesut replaced by Ceballos. From what I’ve been reading, Mesut had a good game.
COYG!
Hector passes for Willock to get athird!! What acome back for Bellerin!!!
How to go Willock! And good work to Bellerin on that assist. Holding, Bellerin and Tierney all doing well from injury.
COYG!
4-0 Chambers to Nelson!!
How to go Nelson! Chambers with another assist!
COYG!
Tottenham have lost to Colchester on penalties
Supporters celebrating the news that Spuds have been roasted by CoAlchester.
What a beautiful 5th. Martinelli just struck a beauty!!
How to go Martinelli! Brace on first start! Unassisted?
COYG!
Clap. Clap. Clap. How to go Spuds! Did Kane dive again?
COYG!
BBC gives the assist to that man, Calum Chambers!
Congratulations Gunners!
68% possession. 28 shots, of which 8 on target. 15:0 on corners. 6:4 on fouls. 1 yellow to each side.
Jonathan Moss, you are a twit!
A superb performance from the boys and a clean sheet as bonus. Thanks for a well deserved win. COYG.
Them jokers will soon start telling us what the negatives were and how we performed below par against a lower place team! The AAA and their media counterparts will always look for where to put in the boot.
Arsenal.com says it was Arijanet Muric that Emile collided with.
—-
I guess Kane didn’t dress for the spuds, so he couldn’t dive. Dele Diver did dress and started for the spuds, maybe he dived.
A victory that is a pleasure to see, with young people who have had fun. A game mastered by the Gunners, without much surprise as to the result… however some big teams sometimes lose against much weaker teams! (Follow my gaze… 😉 )
Impressed by Martinelli of course…… by Chambers too. And happy with the return of Rob Holding, who already looked like a great future player before his injury.
But there is a black spot in this game: am I the only one who doesn’t understand why Unai Emery is so uninterested in Mesut Ozil’s qualities? It makes me sad to see him play so few games… and like tonight when the game was already “won”, to see him outside and replaced by Ceballos.
I know that some people blame him for being too lazy, but this player can show such finesse and vision of the game that each of his matches is a pleasure for me to watch.
He’s not the kind of player who drives and impresses with skillful dribbling and great percussion towards the penalty area. Its strength is its precision in the vision of the game. He may be able, as well as a dribbler, to save precious seconds on the attack by placing his passes precisely where the opening is.
We know that he needs to feel that he is trusted to express all his talent…. Unfortunately, with what UE shows him, it’s a bad start.
We can see in some encounters that the attack sometimes lacks creation in the construction of the game. On that matter, we have here one of the best players (the official website called him last year “the great architect”) spending his time on the bench…. What a waste!
Anyway, with or without Mesut, next match is ManU… COYG!
highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0YsaCqaPIY
Just tossing out an idea. What if there was a website where people could “vote” as to whether a game was officiated fairly (or not), and allowed for input as to why? I don’t know if the binary fair/not-fair is useful. But the why might be.
Good night!
WOO HOO, HOO ! Well done our youngsters , and the returning defenders from injury.
Just saw the highlights and the goals , and they were awesome. Keep it up guys .
That the Spuds crashed out , adds to the delight .
Up the Gunners !
As I had to work yesterday evening couldn’t see the match but was happy with the updates I got from the Arsenal app. Great result!
I wonder if this fan who punched a horse at a Portsmouth game, perhaps thought the horse looked like a PGMO referee?
Travel chaos on the way to the game last night. Although we had left plenty of time to get to the stadium with 90 minutes to spare, the railways conspired to delay our arrival until 15 minutes before kick-off.
It was a fantastic performance from the boys last night. There was a great mix of youth and experience on the pitch, and even at 0-0, I was feeling quite confident. I noticed quite early that the referee didn’t have the best of performances, being quick to penalise Arsenal players, but more forgiving of the Forest’s more physical approach, although they weren’t dirty, maybe just clumsy.
As the game went on Arsenal got stronger and stronger. All five goals were quality, and Willock was my man of the match, covering a lot of ground, but others also shone. I thought Özil had a decent game, pulling Forest defenders all over the place to create space for others.
Tierney had an excellent debut, taking on the Forest right-back and delivering some wicked crosses into dangerous areas. It was great to see Holding back in action after so long out of action. Bellerin also got 15 minutes at the end, receiving applause each time he touched the ball.
More travel chaos on the way home with trains south cancelled and a 3-hour journey, but the family enjoyed the experience.
Liverpool in the next round
#COYG
State Aid out. Brighton out. Sheffield out. Bournemouth out. Quite a few EPL teams now without the pleasure of the Carabao.
Fourth round
29 October Everton (1) v Watford (1) Goodison Park
29 or 30 October Manchester City (1) v Southampton (1) City of Manchester Stadium
29 or 30 October Crawley Town (4) v Colchester United (4) Broadfield Stadium
29 or 30 October Oxford United (3) v Sunderland (3) Kassam Stadium
30 October Aston Villa (1) v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1) Villa Park
29 or 30 October Burton Albion (3) v Leicester City (1) Pirelli Stadium
30 October Chelsea (1) v Manchester United (1) Stamford Bridge
30 October Liverpool (1) v Arsenal (1) Anfield