Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Picks and Predictions for Sunday October 18 2026
Arsenal heads to Nottingham on Sunday, October 18, 2026, to face Forest at the City Ground. Kickoff is at 11:30 AM ET, with USA Network and Peacock carrying the match. Forest just lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace, while Arsenal beat Leeds 2-1. The Gunners are favored around -175, Nottingham Forest is +510, and the draw is sitting at +300. The total is 2.5 goals. I’m taking Arsenal here. Forest has been having a rough time, and Arsenal has won five of six league matches. That’s a pretty big difference. I do think the home team makes things uncomfortable at times. Forest can defend when it wants to. But scoring against Arsenal? That’s another matter. I’m also leaning toward the under.
Nottingham Forest Need To Find Some Goals
Forest is 1-2-3 through six league matches. Five points. That’s not much to celebrate. Last Sunday, they lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace, and the defense wasn’t particularly good. Forest actually scored first, then watched Palace take over the match. Three goals allowed after getting ahead. You’d be annoyed watching that from the stands. Before that, Coventry beat Forest 1-0 at the City Ground. They also lost 2-1 to Aston Villa. That’s three losses in their last four league matches. Oliver Glasner has some work to do. Forest can make matches difficult, but they haven’t been getting enough out of their chances. Arsenal coming to town probably isn’t going to make that problem disappear.
Forest has scored five goals in six matches and allowed eight. Five goals! That’s less than one per game. Arsenal has scored ten and given up five. See the problem? Forest isn’t getting enough from its attack, and the defense has been giving away chances lately. Palace created plenty Sunday. Against Arsenal, you can’t keep leaving players open around the box. Saka will make you pay for that. Forest has been decent at times when it sits back and makes opponents work. They held Tottenham to a scoreless draw and Liverpool to a 2-2 draw. So they’re capable of making this ugly. I just don’t know where the goals are coming from if Arsenal gets ahead.
Dan Ndoye has two league goals, which makes him Forest’s leading scorer. Two. That’s not exactly going to keep Arsenal’s defense awake at night. Morgan Gibbs-White has created 17 chances, so at least somebody is getting things moving. But those chances need finishing. Liam Delap is another option up front, especially with Igor Jesus dealing with a calf injury. Forest also has problems at the back. Nikola Milenkovic and Nicolo Savona have been sidelined with knee injuries. That’s not ideal when Arsenal is coming to town. Gibbs-White can make a good pass, and Ndoye has shown he can score. But I don’t see Forest getting three or four good chances and finishing all of them. Not against this defense.
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Arsenal Keep Picking Up Points
Arsenal is 5-0-1 with fifteen points, sitting second in the Premier League. The Gunners beat Leeds 2-1 last Saturday, which was a nice response after losing 3-0 to Brighton before the international break. That Brighton result was ugly. No point pretending otherwise. But Arsenal has also beaten Chelsea 2-1 and Sunderland 2-0. They’ve been getting results without always playing brilliant football. Mikel Arteta probably doesn’t care much about that. Three points are three points. The interesting thing is Arsenal hasn’t been blowing everybody away. It’s been winning close matches, keeping the defense organized and finding enough offense when needed. That’s a pretty good way to go about things.
The Gunners have scored ten goals and allowed five in six league matches. That’s 1.67 scored and just 0.83 conceded per game. I like that second number. Arsenal has three clean sheets already, while Forest has managed only one. The Gunners are also averaging nearly 60% possession, so I’d expect them to have the ball plenty on Sunday. Forest will probably sit back and look for a chance to counter. Fine. Arsenal has been dealing with that sort of approach for years. What I don’t expect is a wild match with chances flying around every couple of minutes. Arsenal has been pretty good at limiting opponents, and Forest hasn’t been scoring much anyway. That makes me like the under.
Bukayo Saka has three league goals from 17 shots. He’s been Arsenal’s biggest scoring threat. Kai Havertz has two goals, and Declan Rice has three assists. That’s some good production from different places. Martin Odegaard has created a dozen chances, too. Arsenal does have injuries worth checking. William Saliba has been out with a back problem, Christos Tzolis is dealing with a thigh injury, and Piero Hincapie has an ankle concern. That’s missing help, particularly at the back. I’d want to see the lineup before putting much money down. But Arsenal has been winning without a completely healthy squad. Saka can still cause trouble down the right, and Rice has been doing plenty of work in midfield. Forest is going to have its hands full.
Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Picks and Predictions
Moneyline Pick: Arsenal -175
I’m taking Arsenal at -175. I know that’s a fairly expensive road favorite, and Forest can make things difficult at the City Ground. They’ve drawn with Liverpool and Tottenham, so a 0-0 or 1-1 wouldn’t exactly shock me. But Arsenal has fifteen points. Forest has five. The Gunners have allowed five goals all season, while Forest has scored five. That’s the number I keep coming back to. How many decent chances is Forest really going to get? Gibbs-White can create something, and Arsenal is missing Saliba, so I wouldn’t completely rule out a home goal. But Saka has three goals, Rice has three assists, and Arsenal has been finding ways to win matches like this. I think the Gunners get ahead and make Forest chase the game. That’s not where the home team wants to be. Give me Arsenal -175.
Total Pick: Under 2.5 Goals (-106)
I’ll take Under 2.5 goals. Forest has scored five times in six league matches. Arsenal has conceded five. That’s not exactly screaming four-goal shootout, is it? The Gunners have been winning without scoring a ton themselves, averaging 1.67 goals per match. Forest will probably spend a lot of time defending, and that can slow everything down. The concern is Arsenal getting an early goal. Forest could start throwing players forward, and suddenly Saka has room to run. Palace just put three past Forest, so it’s not like that defense can’t fall apart. But I think Arsenal controls most of the match and doesn’t need to take a bunch of risks. A 1-0 or 2-0 win sounds about right. I’ll go with 2-0 Arsenal and take the under.
Final Picks: Arsenal Moneyline -175 and Under 2.5 Goals (-106).
Disclaimer: This preview was prepared October 14, 2026. Betting odds, injuries, and starting lineups may change before kickoff. Three-way moneyline and total wagers are settled after 90 minutes plus stoppage time, with a draw counting as a separate result.
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