Arsenal can ill-afford another stumble on Saturday if they are to keep their faint title hopes alive. While a home game with Nottingham Forest is no gimme for the Gunners, their superior class should tell in the end.

What’s more, Arsenal have done the majority of their best work at home this season, earning 11 of their 19 points at their Emirates base. They have lost just two of their last 24 Premier League home games, triumphing in a sizable 18 of those matches.

Forest have proven a tough nut to crack this season but they were soundly beaten by Newcastle last time out, and they will be faced with a serious upgrade on that challenge in North London this weekend.

Look to Alex Moreno to commit a minimum of one foul on Saturday afternoon. The Nottingham Forest left-back has given away at least one free-kick in six of his eight Premier League appearances this season so far. It’s also worth noting that he has been guilty of at least one offence in three of his four outings for Forest away from home this season, the most recent of which saw him pick up a yellow card.

The 31-year-old defender can expect a busy afternoon at the Emirates on Saturday given that he will likely be up against Bukayo Saka. The Arsenal ace has drawn a combined total of 23 fouls over the course of his 10 Premier League appearances this season so far. He has also been fouled once or more in each of his three appearances in this season’s Champions League.

Given the aforementioned Saka’s knack for drawing fouls from the opposition, it makes sense to side with him to earn Arsenal two or more free-kicks during this contest. The Gunners talisman has been fouled multiple times in eight of his 10 top-flight appearances this term to date.

In fact, he has drawn two or more fouls from each of Arsenal’s last five Premier League foes. That five-game sample saw Saka on the receiving end of no fewer than six fouls against Newcastle at St James’ Park earlier this month. He is likely to come up against Nottingham Forest left-back Alex Moreno on Saturday, who has committed two or more fouls in three of his last four Premier League appearances.

Kai Havertz looks a prime candidate to register at least one shot on target during Arsenal’s clash with Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Havertz’ role as a focal point for Arsenal’s attack can be attributed to him hitting the target 10 times across his opening 11 league games of the season. The German forward has landed an on-target effort at least once in four of Arsenal’s five Premier League home games this season, working the opposition goalkeeper on multiple occasions against both Leicester and Southampton.

Furthermore, each of Havertz’ four Premier League goals this season have been scored at the Emirates Stadium. Thus, the Arsenal attacker could certainly make his mark against a Nottingham Forest side that have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last three Premier League away matches.

Bukayo Saka is Arsenal’s biggest goal threat, making him an appealing option for a goal or an assist on Saturday. The 23-year old has the most combined goals and assists for the Gunners in the Premier League this season, with an impressive tally of 10 across his 10 Premier League appearances this term to date. It’s also worth pointing out that the majority (7) of those goal involvements have been registered at the Emirates. That was also the case during Saka’s solitary home appearance for Arsenal in this season’s Champions League thus far, as he hit the back of the net against PSG.

While Nottingham Forest have exceeded expectations this season so far, they have failed to silence their opponents in each of their last three top-flight road trips. As such, there is plenty of scope for Saka to play his part in another Arsenal goal this weekend.

Alex Moreno looks overpriced to commit two or more fouls on Saturday afternoon. The Nottingham Forest defender has been a serial offender in recent weeks. He has committed multiple fouls in four of his last six Premier League appearances. Those four games were against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Leicester and West Ham. It would be fair to say Arsenal will represent a real step up in class from that quartet of teams.

Moreover, Moreno will be up against the aforementioned Saka, a player who regularly makes life difficult for his direct opponent. The Arsenal star has been fouled on two or more occasions in eight of his 10 Premier League appearances this season, making Moreno a strong contender for multiple misdemeanours at the Emirates.

Martin Odegaard stands out to be fouled at least once on Saturday afternoon. The Arsenal captain was back in the fold at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago and he marked his return by setting up Gabriel Martinelli’s goal. The Norwegian maestro is often used as the most advanced of a midfield three, and that tends to result in him earning his side free-kicks. In fact, Odegaard has been fouled in each of his four Premier League appearances for Arsenal this season, while last season he was drawing an average of just over one foul per-game.

Ryan Yates will likely be assigned a shackling job on Odegaard. The Nottingham Forest midfielder has committed a combined total of 18 fouls across his 11 Premier League appearances this season.

Given the regularity in which Ryan Yates finds himself on the referee’s radar, he looks worth siding with to commit two or more fouls at the Emirates. No Nottingham Forest player has committed more fouls than Yates (18) in the Premier League this season to date.

The combative midfielder got on the wrong side of the referee on no fewer than five occasions during his side’s 3-1 defeat to Newcastle last time out. He also sinned twice or more during the Tricky Trees’ top-flight tussles with Bournemouth, Chelsea and West Ham earlier this season. He is expected to be keeping a close eye on Martin Odegaard, though he will likely be putting fires out all over the park, making him an obvious candidate to commit multiple fouls in the capital.