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Despite being separated only by goal difference in the Premier League rankings, ailing Arsenal and high-flying Nottingham Forest prepare for an interesting clash at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

Mikel Arteta’s side has lost their past four Premier League games, but their opponents come into the North London clash off a defeat at home to Newcastle United.

Some tipped Arsenal for triumph before the first ball was thrown in the 2024-25 season, but if their first 11 games are any indication, they will struggle to even enter the Champions League, let alone face Manchester City and Arne Slot’s Liverpool juggernaut for the crown.

The long-awaited return of Martin Odegaard to the Arsenal XI against Chelsea boosted the Gunners’ creativity slightly, as the Norwegian’s floated cross was perfect for Gabriel Martinelli to finish, but Pedro Neto was given all the time and space on the Stamford Bridge pitch to level the game in a 1-1 draw.

A two-week break could not have come at a better time for Arsenal, who are currently nine points from first position and only three points ahead of Brentford in the bottom half of the rankings; a winter comeback is unquestionably necessary.

Arsenal’s only two victories in their previous seven matches have come in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk and the EFL Cup against Preston North End, despite the fact that home is still where the heart is.

Indeed, Arteta’s side has already gone undefeated in their previous eight Premier League games at the Emirates Stadium, scoring multiple goals in all but one of them, and Saturday’s game will be their 250th under Pep Guardiola’s pupil in all competitions.

Arsenal, formerly regarded as one of Europe’s top backlines, enters Saturday’s game with a poorer defensive record than forthcoming opponents Nottingham Forest, whose tally of 10 goals conceded is the league’s second-highest, trailing only champions Liverpool.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side conceded three of those goals at home to Newcastle in gameweek 11, with Murillo’s first-half header preceding a second-half onslaught from Alexander Isak, Joelinton, and Harvey Barnes as Forest lost in the Premier League for the first time since late September.

Crystal Palace, Leicester City, and West Ham United had all succumbed to the Tricky Trees’ dominance before Newcastle clipped Forest’s wings, but the fifth-placed visitors will leapfrog Arsenal into the top four with a surprise Emirates win, or a draw if Chelsea lose to Leicester City in the lunchtime kickoff.

While Arsenal’s perfect home record is admirable, Forest go south hoping to maintain an amazing seven-match unbeaten streak on the road in the Premier League, and the Reds have only trailed for 102 minutes and 34 seconds in league play all season.

Forest did, however, suffer two 2-1 losses to Arsenal in the 2023-24 Premier League season, and the Gunners had won each of their previous five home games against the Tricky Trees in all competitions since a 1-1 draw in 1995.

Arsenal’s likely starting lineup:

Raya: Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

Nottingham Forest’s likely starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Dominguez and Yates; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.