Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, Getty Images January 17, 2026, 9:31 p.m

The Manchester derby at the beginning of Saturday’s program of the twenty-second round of the English Premier League gave London-based Arsenal the hope of breaking away even harder in the championship race from City, who lost at Old Trafford (0:2). However, Mikel Arteta’s side also had a pretty solid challenge on this matchday in the form of a visit to the City Ground away to Nottingham Forest, who may not be in their best form at the moment, but Sean Dyche knows how to cause problems for any opposition.

And this match actually turned out to be a good example of this tendency for the head coach of the Foresters. Because already in the first half, it was clear that the hosts definitely do not plan to concede to the opponents in the power struggle, and even during the standards, the threat from the “gunners” was not as significant as in general during the course of the current campaign. Meanwhile, the defense of Arteta’s team was constantly tested by counterattacks, so the guests had to work a lot.

In such conditions, all Arsenal managed before half-time in the away goal was a Martinelli moment, when a drop shot at the far right of the away goal was actually more difficult to deflect past the far post than it was to convert a good rebound from Saka’s shot from the far side of the penalty area. However, no, the ball did not go into the net either then or in any other episode of this match.

For both teams. Because even before the break, Mats Sels had to take his word and save the “foresters” when Rice and Saka hit both corners of his goal. Yes, Merino also had a good moment from his traditional cross from the wing. However, with combined efforts, Nottingham Forest did fight back, and the end of the game was generally spent with the ball in the other half, so in general, they kept their finger on the pulse of events.

Nottingham Forest: Sels – Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams – Anderson, Dominguez (Hutchinson, 89), Sangare – Gibbs-White, I. Jesus (Ndoye, 76), Hudson-Odoi.