Arsenal return to Premier League action this weekend to take on Nottingham Forest with Ange Postecoglou back in the dugout for the visitors.
Following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santo, Forest have moved quickly to bring in the former Tottenham boss whose first game in charge will be at the Emirates this weekend.
Saturday afternoon’s kick-off was already looking like a tricky assignment without that new narrative with a host of injury problems for Mikel Arteta to contend with.
Bukayo Saka is likely to remain unavailable as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury he picked up against Leeds in August.
The winger was left out of the England squad for September’s international break with a four week lay-off predicted, a timeline that keeps him out of action this weekend but possibly in the frame to return against Manchester City next week.
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Martin Odegaard was forced off in the same game with a shoulder injury but did return off the bench in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool before the break.
Arsenal’s biggest concern could be William Saliba. The France international came off after five minutes on Merseyside, ruled out of action for France with reports in his homeland suggesting he will be unavailable for three to four weeks.
The centre-half suffered a sprained ankle in the warm-up before the Liverpool game with Arsenal hoping to have him back sooner rather than later.
Kai Havertz meanwhile is recovering from minor knee surgery with Gabriel Jesus still a long-term absentee. Arteta will provide further updates on his players when he speaks to the press on Friday.
Christian Norgaard is still play a single competitive minute for his new club due to an unspecified injury with Ben White set to be available again after missing games against Leeds and Liverpool.
In Saka’s absence, Noni Madueke has impressed on the right for both club and country and will be confident of continuing there against Forest.
A midfield trio of Odegaard, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi is already looking like it will be picking itself for the foreseeable future.
Cristhian Mosquera came onto replace Saliba at Anfield and rose to the occasion alongside Gabriel Magalhaes, surely doing enough to secure himself a starting role this weekend.
Arsenal XI to face Nottingham Forest – Metro prediction
There is a huge hole to fill at the back in Saliba’s absence but Mosquera appears to be up to the task.
Saka’s absence remains an issue but this is now an Arsenal squad padded out with excellent attacking options with Madueke’s bright start in north London especially promising.
Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest TV channel and kick-off time
Arsenal vs Forest takes place on Saturday 13 September with kick-off scheduled for 12:30pm.
You can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1 with streaming also available through the Discovery+ app
You can also follow all the action with Metro’s LIVE blog.