Mikel Arteta has made five changes to his side for today’s Premier League game against Nottingham Forest, with Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka starting in attack.
The boss has shuffled his pack on his 250th game as our manager as he looks to return us to winning ways, with Trossard able to start despite limping off during Belgium’s loss to Israel on Monday night.
Arteta to reach 250 games as manager – the stats
Saka and Martin Odegaard have all been passed fit to play after recovering from their injuries during the international break, but Declan Rice is only fit enough for a spot on a strong bench that includes Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey, meaning Jorginho comes into midfield alongside our skipper and Mikel Merino.
There is also good news in that Riccardo Calafiori is back in the starting line-up after a month out with a knee injury, with Jurren Timber expected to switch to right-back to replace Ben White who will be out for the foreseeable future following knee surgery.
As for Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo has made two alterations to the side that was beaten 3-1 at home by Newcastle United last time out, with England man Morgan Gibbs-White ruled out, and top scorer Chris Wood benched.
That sees James Ward-Prowse come into the line-up, as does Taiwo Awonyi who has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances against us. Elliot Anderson is also out of the matchday squad with a foot injury.
