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Confirmed Arsenal team to take on Nottingham Forest on opening PL weekend

The teams are finally out as Arsenal look to begin their bid for the 2023-24 Premier League title with a home victory over Nottingham Forest.

The Gunners ran eventual champions Manchester City close for the title last term, and knowing that our rivals have already clinched a 3-0 win over Burnley yesterday, we cannot afford to start the new campaign slowly.

Thankfully we have already tasted victory last weekend, beating Pep Guardiola’s side in the Community Shield, but today’s test has it’s own challenges, although with much of our first-team squad available and the home crowd on our side, we should be able to make a statement in asserting our dominance from the off.

We know that we will be without both Gabriel Jesus and Mo Elneny today, which led us to predict the below in our preview earlier.

Predicted Arsenal XI:

Ramsdale
White Saliba Gabriel Timber
Odegaard Partey Rice
Saka Nketiah Martinelli

As you can see, we were pretty close, with just Gabriel Magalhaes making way for Kai Havertz in the selection.

Will Thomas Partey or Rice be dropping back into a CB or FB role in defensive phases? What are your predictions after seeing the line-up?

Patrick

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Tags Arsenal v Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest

102 Comments

        1. Cheers Jon
          I’m okay , just took the hit and added it to my subscription
          Can cancel after a month
          I’ll keep it then cancel December – Feb while.CL is on a break

        1. Yeah havnt got on my subscription……have now lol ( I’ll cancel when the CL has a break )

          Cost allot to have everything

    1. I have to agree with you, had to read it twice looking for our defence. Hopefully it’s a masterstroke and we come out gunning. Come on Arsenal ❤️🤍 Let’s win everything this season. Red army!

  4. Strange, stramge line, i dont get it at all. But nice to see Arteta shaking things up, just not this way and not necessarily these players in these positions. No Trossard?

    1. Quite strange Sue, Rice center back! Or is it 3 at the back or are we gonna see partey slotting to right back? All in all hope we have a nice game.

    2. Many wanted this…. So many pple complain last season about not switching tins up so We should nt complain. All our players are capable. If they can’t get the job done then we should nt blame Arteta for sticking with players who can get the job done

    3. It’s about chemistry, Ordegaard has more chemistry with Haverts in the middle whereas of late Trossard and Smith Rowe have been mesmerising opponents in the left half space. It’s purely tactical

  6. Partey at rightback? Saliba has LCB with Gabriel and Kiwior both on bench? I am so confused by this line up.

  7. It could be a gung-ho attacking formation with Timber and Partey taking turns to play inverted-fullback

    Or maybe Rice will play false-CB with Timber playing inverted-LB. This would also be a very attacking tactic

      1. Stones played false-CB last season, by playing CB when Man City didn’t have the ball and playing DM when they had the ball

    2. Or it could be straight flat 3 CB formation of White, Saliba and Timber
      3-2-4-1
      White, Saliba, Timber
      Partey and Rice in midfield
      Saka Odegaard Havertz and Martinelli
      Niketiah as CF

      1. It will be our shape when we have the ball:

        …….………….……. Ramsdale
        ……..…. White .… Saliba …. Rice
        …………….. Partey……..… Timber
        Saka . Odegaard . Havertz . Martinelli
        …………………………. Nketiah

        When we don’t have the ball, the formation would likely
        become 4-1-4-1:

        …….………….…….. Ramsdale
        White ….. Saliba ….. Rice ….. Timber
        ………………………….. Partey
        Saka . Odegaard . Havertz . Martinelli
        …………………………. Nketiah

  11. Not sure what’s in Arteta’s mind
    In what shape we gonna play
    Is Partey playing as RB or are we playing as flat 3 at back formation like 3-2-4-1

    White, Saliba, Timber
    Partey and Rice in deep Midfield
    Saka Odegaard Havertz and Martinelli
    Niketiah as CF

    But confusing Line up

  14. I think its 3 4 3 formation. First game of the season. Let’s go boys. Talking about flexibility. Hope we see this a lot this season.

  15. I don’t care much about any other decision Arteta made.
    But not starting Trossard ahead of Nketieh?

  17. Clear as mud! I hope the players are fully aware of their roles as I cannot recollect this eleven in action in the pre season matches.Tierney on his way to Newcastle?

  20. My word, Arteta certainly loves a mind game.

    This team sheet have me beaten, though attacking formation formation nonetheless.

    A set up that shows extreme confidence with the back four.

  21. OT: Kick off DELAYED til 1pm, possibly longer Ticket technology system is the problem!
    35000 fans OUTSIDE right now, at scheduled kickoff time.

  22. Thanks for the info.

    This line up suggests one of two things, either the gaffer has learned an awfully lot in the last campaign or he has totally gone of the rail.

    1. Turner is aware of our usuall tactics and formations hence the total shake up to confuse him and his new team.

      1. Oh, fair enough, was wondering if it was an attempt not just to get Hevertz in the team but to have him played in his favored spot, that he most likely will continues in.

  23. I think Rice will take on the Stones like role. Trossard deserves a chance , the guy is good no debate, but remember he has always been more dangerous and lethal off the bench, him and Nelson. That is why Arteta spoke of “impacters” last season. And he seems to understand his role in the team

  24. Yes my son and grandson are there and it’s total chaos at Emirates as new digital ticketing not working consistently. My two got in ok but tens of thousands still outside ground and game could be delayed even further. Likely large fine or sanctions if further delayed.

  25. Touch and go IF we can start by one o clock. Still loads of empty seats. And I had hoped to be playing bowls by 3pm. Sigh!

    Think I”ll blame Wenger. Even the weather is ” his fault”!

  28. With the recently world cup style added time procedures, this game could go beyond 3:30 pm opening up a whole new can of worms.

    This mess up of time, surely will affect the traveling team more.

  29. As usual Arteta trying so hard to fit his favourites Kai&Nketiah in the starting 11 at the expense of our best C.B(Gabriel) and playing our best D.M(T.P) out of position. I just hope it doesn’t back fire on us.

  33. This is a very aggressive attacking formation. In attacking phase only saliba stays back. Partey comes in the middle, Rice moves to the xhaka left cm role.

  42. Havertz presence will help Martinelli become even more dangerous. He is a pest always running into space, taking people with him hence giving gabi more space to work.

          1. Our counter pressing has been monstrous in this formation Sue. We are suffocating forest and this is arteta way to deal with park the bus teams where we struggled at times last season.

            Yeah a new formation so an iffy start is no surprise.

          2. Struggling to find what’s wrong with the start. Forest refuse to play so we play our usual patient game. Were u expecting us to score in d first minute

  43. Wonderful skill from Martinelli or was it just an accidental assist? But Nketiah finished the chance beautifully

    Saka also did what he always does best

    The adventurous formation worked well. We essentially played with three DMs when we had the ball

    1. I think Martinelli did fluke it a little, but he did well to get where he was to make the fluke, and Eddie got a very slight deflection which may have deceived Turner.

  44. Signature goal by Saka. They always know what he’s going to do, but they can’t do anything about it. At least Forest is opening up a bit now, and we should have a game on our hands. Looks like Timber may be off for the second half.

  45. Signature goal by Saka. They always know what he’s going to do, but they can’t do anything about it. At least Forest is opening up a bit now, and we should have a game on our hands. Looks like Timber may be off for the second half.

  49. I wish arteta would make his changes around the 60min instead of 70. A good 35 min to keep the bench match fit

  52. I thought Havertz should be taken off for ESR. He’s unconvincing and does not seem interested in shooting or scoring.

  53. Still the same old story of not killing off games. Just side way passing and not enough penetration.

  54. Solid win, timber injury the negative factor. Excited for the season based on what I saw, we have depth now.

  55. My biggest worry about our chance of winning the league is Arteta over experimenting with tactics instead of doing the basics. The new signings, particularly Havertz would need some time to gel based on today’s performance. His languid style of play and enormous wage reminds me of Ozil. I hope he learns how to shoot and be more dangerous than waiting for open and easy goal scoring opportunities. My opinion though!

  57. Happy with the win but a shocking setup that set the pace for the absolute crap we’e watched in the second half. Try this bs against a near decent team and we’d be in for a shock. I hope Arteta has laerned his lesson today. We all want rotation but play players in their right positions, that’s why we have two to three decent players in nearly every position. First time I’m rightfully ranting Against Arteta. Shocking tactics

    1. Shocking tactics that had us 2-0 up and cruising until forest scored against the run play and we then cruised to 2-1 interesting shocking tactics

      1. I’m one of the biggest arteta cheerleaders on here but i wont hesitate to speak my mind when he effs up. First off this setup was NEVER used in our preseason friendlies and you could tell how players we gassed out in the second half.I’d never shy away from stating the truth.

  58. I hope this display was because of the first game of the season. If we play like this during the season, Lord have mercy on us 😁 and our chances of winning the title.

  59. Arteta! It’s about wing backs stupid. What an ugly look. Four centre halves and Partey. And Harvetz, worst buy if the season, already?

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