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Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal at the City Ground, Noni Madueke settling a very dull afternoon with an 80th-minute goal. He'd come on at half-time, Declan Rice set it up, and his shot took a deflection past Matz Sels. Arsenal had about three-quarters of the ball and only one shot on target, which tells you how much of a slog it was. That's a Matchweek 7 win that keeps Arsenal second on 18 points, three behind Manchester City; Forest stay on 6 points, sitting uncomfortably close to the bottom three with their goals drying up.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Arsenal are second on 15 points, three behind Manchester City, so any slip here hands the leaders more breathing room. Forest have six points from six games and are hovering just above the bottom five, with back-to-back defeats behind them. Lose again and the mood at the City Ground gets properly grim.
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2Arsenal have failed to score in their last two visits to the City Ground, both goalless draws. That's a decent bit of trivia to drop if anyone claims Arsenal will just stroll it. Forest are 5/1 to get their first home win of the season, which tells you how the bookies see it.
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3Kai Havertz has three league goals so far, and Mikel Arteta has publicly backed him to hit 25 or even 30 in a season if he stays fit. That's a big number for a man who spent last year being called a luxury. If he scores today, you can say you saw the plan working. Say it loudly.
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4Team news is the story here. Morgan Gibbs-White is a doubt with a muscle problem, which matters because he's Forest's main source of ideas. Igor Jesus and Nicolo Savona are out, and Nikola Milenkovic could return from a knee injury. Arsenal are without William Saliba, and Piero Hincapie is likely to miss out too.
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5Forest were beaten 3-1 at Crystal Palace last weekend, a game made awkward by Oliver Glasner turning up as the opposition. They also lost 1-0 at home to Coventry in a match soaked in VAR arguments. Arsenal play Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, so there's a real question about how much they've got left in the tank. A rotated Arsenal against a desperate Forest is the sort of thing that makes Sunday afternoons interesting.
Team Talking Points
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1Forest go into the international break on a high after beating Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground last Saturday. It was their first home league win of the season, and it lifted them out of the relegation zone to around 16th.
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2Liam Delap scored twice, and he came through City's academy, so beating his old club was extra sweet. Jair Cunha opened the scoring after six minutes. Cunha also cleared an Erling Haaland shot off the line, which is the sort of thing defenders tell their grandchildren about.
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3Before Saturday, Forest had gone almost six months without scoring a goal at home. Six months. Mention that to a Forest fan now and they'll laugh, because it no longer hurts.
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4Manager Oliver Glasner said changes were needed after the previous defeat to Brentford, and he made them. Ryan Yates got his first start of the season and was reportedly behind a rousing team talk before kick-off. An academy lad firing up the dressing room is exactly the kind of story Forest fans love.
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5The job now is to stay up. One big win doesn't fix a season, and the bottom of the table is very crowded. Still, beating the team that had won seven in a row at the start of the season does wonders for belief.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Six months without a home goal, then three against Man City. Forest really don't do things the easy way.
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Avoid saying
"Forest are a big club, they'll be fine." Two European Cups is a great history, but it scores no goals, as six goalless months at home proved. Fans know a relegation scrap when they see one, and they don't want it waved away.
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1Arsenal are top of the table with 27 points from 10 games – nine wins and one defeat, which equals the best start to a league season in the club's history. They're five points clear of second-placed Brighton going into the international break, and they're the reigning champions, so the old 'nearly men' jokes have officially expired.
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2Their last game was a 1-0 home win over Hull, settled by a Martin Ødegaard goal with about 18 minutes left. It wasn't pretty – the defence did most of the heavy lifting – but grinding out wins on an off day is exactly what title-winning sides do. Say 'they won ugly' and you'll sound like you watched it.
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3The week before, Arsenal won at Anfield to go top. This week the Premier League's independent incidents panel ruled 4-1 that Jurrien Timber should have given away a penalty for pulling Alexander Isak's shirt in that game. Arsenal fans will tell you it all evens out over a season; Liverpool fans will not.
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4Martin Zubimendi, the £60m midfielder who was a key part of last season's title win, hasn't started a single Premier League game this season, and Real Madrid, Atlético and Chelsea are reportedly sniffing around. He told Marca this week he's not been in contact with anyone and isn't close to leaving. Bring it up gently – it's a sore spot.
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5Viktor Gyökeres is having a lovely international break: he's now scored in seven consecutive Nations League games for Sweden, a competition record. Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, has signed a new deal to 2030. Arsenal go to Newcastle on Saturday 21 November when the league returns – historically a ground where they find life awkward.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Nine wins from ten is lovely, but the real test is St James' Park after the break – that's where Arsenal title seasons go to get nervous.
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Avoid saying
"Arsenal always bottle it" – they're the defending champions and top by five points. Wheel that one out and everyone will assume you've been asleep since 2023.