Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Prediction - Oct 18, 2026

Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Prediction: Away Edge

Our Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal prediction takes us to the City Ground on Sunday, October 18, 2026. Kick-off is scheduled for 16:30 GMT, with Arsenal arriving as favourites but carrying an injury list almost long enough to need its own team bus.

Different moods at the City Ground

This Premier League Matchday 7 fixture brings together teams with contrasting starts. Arsenal sit second after collecting 15 points from six games, winning five and losing one. Forest have five points from the same number of matches, with one victory, two draws and three defeats.

Mikel Arteta’s side beat Leeds 2-1 on October 10 before facing Lille in the Champions League three days later. Arteta made five midweek changes, bringing Viktor Gyökeres, Mikel Merino, Bruno Guimarães, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze into the starting side. Some regulars should return here, although the manager cannot simply press the “strongest XI” button.

• Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi are out after suffering ankle injuries during a post-match recovery session.
• William Saliba is training individually but remains weeks away because of a back problem.
• Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Christos Tzolis and Kieran Tierney are also unavailable.
• Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have returned to partial training, while Martin Ødegaard and Leandro Trossard are available.

Those absences may affect Arsenal’s defensive structure, yet their likely plan remains familiar: control possession, keep Forest deep and use Ødegaard, Saka and the wide players to create openings around the penalty area.

Forest enter after consecutive defeats, losing 1-0 to Coventry and 3-1 to Crystal Palace. Oliver Glasner also has problems to solve. Igor Jesus is sidelined by a calf injury, Nikola Milenković has a painful knee issue, and Nicolò Savona’s recovery is moving slowly. Neco Williams recovered from a fever to start against Palace and should remain an important outlet.

Forest’s best route may be to stay compact and attack quickly. That approach produced a memorable 2-2 away draw with Liverpool on August 29, despite Forest being priced at 6.75 to win. In other words, writing them off completely would be brave, and perhaps slightly foolish.