After a slow start, Arsenal are now back in business.
The Gunners have responded to winning just one point from their opening two games with a number of impressive performances to get them back into the upper echelons of the Premier League table and their fans, for now at least, seem content.
How long that continues remains to be seen but you have to think a loss to Nottingham Forest tonight in the EFL Cup would surely upset the apple cart somewhat. Arsene Wenger has a bit of a reputation for not always taking this competition seriously and with the City Ground faithful itching to see their side cause an upset, the north London side will have to be wary.
Wenger will look to use his squad for this game but the loss against Sheffield Wednesday in this competition last season will still be in his memory so it wouldn’t be a surprise to still see a number of senior figures in the line-up.
And we think Wenger will still field a decent enough team and it’ll look something like this…
David Ospina
Arsenal’s cup competition ‘keeper, Ospina will want a quieter night than the one against PSG.
Mathieu Debuchy
Hector Bellerin has been a mainstay so far this season so should get a rest with Debuchy coming in.
Laurent Koscielny
The Frenchman has to play tonight to avoid the Gunners giving Forest a chance of causing an upset.
Shkodran Mustafi
Mustafi needs to play as much as possible to familiarise himself and so should make his EFL Cup bow.
Nacho Monreal
Monreal will likely start as Kieran Gibbs is lacking match fitness.
Mohamed Elneny
Elneny hasn’t played much this season but should get a start against Forest.
Granit Xhaka
Xhaka started on the bench against Hull but came on and scored a belter. Expect him to start tonight.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
It’s another chance for ‘The Ox’ to get into the first team regularly; he needs to take it.
Mesut Ozil
Ozil will be expected to be one of the players who leads by example for Arsenal tonight.
Alex Iwobi
Iwobi gets to play in these games so his development should continue tonight.
Lucas Perez
It’s time Perez started scoring and this could be his perfect opportunity.