Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Picks and Predictions for Sunday, October 18, 2026
Nottingham Forest hosts Arsenal at The City Ground on Sunday. The match begins at 11:30 am ET. Nottingham Forest is 15th in the Premier League table at 1-2-3 on five points. Arsenal is second, at 5-0-1 on 15 points. Forest was defeated 3-1 by Crystal Palace in it most recent match. Arsenal lost 2-1 beat Leeds in its Premier League fixture, but beat Lille in a Champions League match 3-0 earlier this week. Build a bigger bankroll with our free Premier League picks.
Nottingham Forest needs more goals
Nottingham Forest lost to Crystal Palace 3-1 last Sunday and has dropped two consecutive Premier League matches. Forest scores an average of just 0.83 goals per game while allowing 1.33. Nottingham Forest has scored only five goals in six league matches and has been held scoreless twice. Forest has also won just once this season, defeating Aston Villa 2-1 in September.
Dan Ndoye leads Nottingham Forest with two goals, while Morgan Gibbs-White and Liam Delap have one apiece. Gibbs-White has a team-best two assists, and Murillo has one. Forest has created scoring opportunities but has not been converting enough of them. The club has scored five goals despite averaging 1.61 expected goals per match.
Injuries: Igor Jesus and Nicolo Savona are out. Morgan Gibbs-White is doubtful, while Nikola Milenkovic could return.
Arsenal has been strong on defense
This past Tuesday, Arsenal were a 3-0 winner over Lille in Champions League play after is 2-1 win in EPL action last week over Leeds. The Gunners are winners of five of six league matches to start the season and sit just three points adrift of first-place Manchester City. Arsenal scores an average of 1.67 goals per game while allowing just 0.83. The Gunners have kept three clean sheets in six league matches and have allowed only five goals.
Bukayo Saka leads Arsenal with three goals, while Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard have scored two apiece. Declan Rice has a team-best three assists, and Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White have two each. Arsenal averages 1.85 expected goals per game while allowing just 0.76. The Gunners have been getting strong results on both ends of the field.
Injuries: Piero Hincapie, Christos Tzolis and William Saliba are out. Martin Zubimendi could return after missing Tuesday's match.
Key To The Game
Arsenal has scored twice as many league goals as Nottingham Forest and has allowed three fewer. Forest has struggled to convert scoring opportunities, while Arsenal has kept three clean sheets. The Gunners also have ten more points in the standings and have won five of six league matches.
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Pick
- Arsenal
Arsenal has won five of six Premier League matches and is coming off consecutive victories over Leeds and Lille. Nottingham Forest has lost two straight league games and has scored only five goals this season. The Gunners have allowed just five goals in six matches and have kept three clean sheets. Forest has struggled to finish scoring opportunities, while Arsenal has been much stronger defensively. Arsenal is the pick on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Over/Under Pick
- Under 2.5 Goals
Nottingham Forest scores an average of just 0.83 goals per game and has been held scoreless in two of six league matches. Arsenal allows only 0.83 goals per game and has kept three clean sheets. Forest has also played Arsenal to scoreless draws at The City Ground in each of the past two seasons. With Arsenal defending well and Forest struggling to score, the Under 2.5 goals is the selection.