Coming to the end of the November I’m not sure many people saw this as a top five clash but here we are! 4th hosts 5th as Arsenal host Nottingham Forest at the Emirates. With just one win in their last five, the Gunners are already nine points off leaders Liverpool and simply cannot afford to be dropping anymore points. The home side have really suffered with injuries to key players and suspensions but already welcomed back the likes of Martin Odegaard before the international break.

Nottingham Forest suffered a blip last time out with defeat at home to Newcastle, but they are unbeaten away from home this season including winning at Liverpool and holding Chelsea and Brighton to draws, so this won’t be easy for Arsenal.

One of Arsenal’s most important players is Bukayo Saka and this is emphasised by both his goals and assists, with him already providing 10 combined this season, the fourth most in the league. Last season he hit 25 and Forest will really have to be on their guard. He’ll be coming up against Alex Moreno who joined on-loan from Aston Villa in the summer. He’s already collected three yellow cards since arriving, including two in his last four away games. Saka is the fifth most fouled player in the league at 2.3 times per-game and will cause Moreno all sorts of problems.

Moreno himself is involved in 3.4 defensive involvements per-game (2.1 tacklers, 1.3 fouls) so this looks a great bet. The referee is Simon Hooper who last time he took control of an Arsenal game, booked Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella.

Having started the season with four straight defeats, Sean Dyche has stemmed the tide with just one defeat in the seven since. However, it’s just two wins all season, and they sit precariously in 16th in the table, just three points above the drop zone.

Goals have been the issue, with the Toffees the 3rd lowest scorers in the league with just 10 goals. Brentford on the otherhand have been goals galore at both ends of the pitch, with both 22 scored and conceded. They’re the joint 2nd highest scorers but the 2nd worst defensively. However, it’s likely Everton will have to focus on them from an attacking point of view, with Brentford possessing two of the top six marksmen in the league with Brian Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa combining for 15 goals already – 50% more then Everton’s whole team.

One man who will tasked the stop the deadly duo is Everton centre-back James Tarkowski. The 32 year-old Englishman is no stranger to a yellow card having collected the joint 4th most last season with 11. He’s kicked off this season with three already including two in his last five home games at Goodison Park. Wissa will likely play through the middle and he’s Brentford’s most fouled player so far this season at 1.9 times per-game – the joint 13th most in the league.

Tarkowski was booked in this fixture last season and will be a big contender again here. The referee is Chris Kavanagh who takes charge of his 8th game this season and is averaging the most cards in the Premier League at a whopping 7.14 per-game!