Glenn Murray
Former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Nottingham Forest will sit in a low block and let Arsenal come forward and ask questions of them.

I can't see Forest being too adventurous in these early stages. They'll be in 'hold firm and see of the initial home charge' mode.

Arsenal seeing most of the ball, which isn't a shock.

Welcome to the game, Bukayo.

Renan Lodi dumps the Arsenal forward on his behind with a heavy tackle. The ref gives the Forest defender a little heads up. 'No more of that, eh son'.

Image source, Getty Images

Glenn Murray
Former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Gabriel Jesus sets the tone of this Arsenal team in and out of possession. He adds to the team through hard work. He does add goals when he gets the chance. That was the question when he joined from Man City. So far he has lived up to that mantle.

For a second, Jesse Lingard thinks he can get into a shooting chance after the pumped ball from the kick-off falls at his feet.

His boots let him down, though, and the ball is whipped off his toe and cleared.

The clocks have changed. The nights are going to be drawing in. Winter is coming. But things are bright and warm at Arsenal at the moment.

A win here takes them back to the top of the Premier League.

Facing them is a Forest side with one big result under their belt and the desire to claim another. If they can get a win here, they'll be off the bottom.

So much to play for, and it is under way...

Glenn Murray
Former Crystal Palace striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Nottingham Forest have belief, they are staying in games longer and being better defensively. This is a different test for Arsenal. It's about breaking these lesser teams down and getting three points in a game you would expect them to. Especially when there is a chance to go back to the top of the table.

Here come the teams.

Regardless of the circumstances, I do like that Forest's kit isn't tarnished by a main sponsor. It's clean.

Last chance to make a brew before kick-off.

Ellen White
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think for that club as well, to have someone like Ryan Yates who have been there since the academy and knows everyone. Obviously when you are trying to build a new team, that culture, I think it's important to have people like that within the dressing room and knows the importance of bringing everyone together.

It helps to be a really likeable person. You need those people on the pitch. I love having those people where they're so nice off the pitch and then absolute psychopaths on the pitch! I think it's exciting. I had to tone that down a bit when I was playing but the way that Yates conducts himself on the pitch, he's a winner, he's a team player and I think that's really exciting to watch.

I think we should all take some time to think of those fans who left The Valley before injury time to try and beat the traffic yesterday...

Image source, BBC Sport

Ellen White
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Steve Cooper obviously feels he can still add to his squad. Last season they had a lot of players and this season they have signed a lot of players and now they are actually committed to the club which is exciting for Forest and the fans.

You can see every home game that the fans are absolutely rocking the City Ground so maybe Cooper wants to add a couple more to his squad but I really like the way that he plays. The team looks behind him, internally the club seem right behind him, he signed a new contract. I think it's a really exciting time for Forest.

Colin Fray
BBC Radio Nottingham

Nottingham Forest may still be bottom of the Premier League but the improvements in the way the team is playing are clear to see.

From being pilloried in the national media, Steve Cooper and his side are slowly starting to get some credit for the way they’re playing – and deservedly so.

The turnaround in form since that awful defeat by Leicester less than a month ago has been impressive. A change of style has seen the Reds playing a lot deeper than they used to and conceding a lot more possession than they used to. While that may not be Cooper’s preferred style, he knew it was necessary, and he’s got his players believing in it.

It’s had the desired effect – frustrating and restricting opponents to fewer chances than they were getting previously. In the four games up to and including Leicester, they’d conceded 16 goals. In the four games since, they’ve conceded twice, and only once from open play. Those four games have seen them take more points than they gleaned from their previous eight.

At Wolves and Brighton, they weren’t great going forward, but big strides were taken in that department against Liverpool at the weekend. While they’re still nowhere near where they want to be, the signs are far more positive.

It’s all of those things, as much as the victory over Liverpool, which are giving Reds fans hope and belief. Forest are starting to look like they can compete. They’re looking like a team.

That team will be sorely tested again this weekend at Arsenal, but remember how just about everyone who had an opinion on it agreed that it would be difficult to mould all those new signings into a cohesive unit? It’s taken a few weeks, but perhaps the signs are that Cooper is starting to do just that.

Nottingham Forest defender Steve Cook says they used the 4-0 defeat by Leicester as a turning point as he discussed their recent form.

Forest, who moved from a back three to a four-man defence after that, beat Liverpool 1-0 last time out.

"There was no connection against Leicester between the defence and attack. The manager and players recognised it. We knew we have to be one, we can’t be split," Cook told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"The manager has done an awful lot on the training pitch. It was embarrassing the goals we were conceding. Everyone took it personally. There were some home truths. We are now seeing the benefits of the togetherness, the ability to be told something, accept it, learn, improve and move on.

"The manager and the staff have worked extremely hard on the sessions. The beauty of the Premier League is you get the time in between games. It would be different in the Championship with games coming thick and fast. We’ve had time in between games to have meetings and more time on the training pitch.

"Now we've had positive results and performances, we can add the layers the manager wants. We went back to basics. Hopefully the fans will see positive steps from this team – more attacking threat, more football being played."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

As I mentioned earlier, ahead of the game at the Emirates, Arsenal players and fans have shown their support for Pablo Mari who is recovering after being stabbed this week in an Italian supermarket.

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest should head into Sunday's game at Premier League leaders Arsenal full of confidence after recent performances, according to BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray.

Speaking on the latest Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, he said: "From a Forest perspective, not only the win against Liverpool, but also the way they built towards that win over the previous three games, what they have got now is a belief, determination and some faith in a system.

"It’s obviously been worked on very hard on the training ground and it takes a lot of hard work during the course of a game to shut these teams down. When you consider that Liverpool game was on the end of a three-game week, that is a tough third game to have.

"They absolutely worked their socks off. Now they have this template that has been proven to work. This can work against some of the best teams in the country. A team that is coming together and looking like a team, rather than a group of individuals, has taken a dozen games to get to that stage - but there is now the feeling that they are at that stage.

"There is no greater test than going to the team that is top of the Premier League, so it could all be tested and come crumbling down on Sunday. The hope is that they have enough faith to get something out of the game. The last four games have really given Forest fans some hope that there is much better ahead than how the season has gone so far."

Listen to the episode on BBC Sounds

Jose Enrique
Former Liverpool and Villarreal left-back on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Ryan Yates helping around the training ground and other things like that, it shows that he really cares about Forest and obviously it's not just him, it's everyone at Nottingham Forest. It's looking good. Against Liverpool they deserved to win. You can change on the pitch but off the pitch you can be a different person.

Ellen White
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

You almost get more energy from the fact that you are playing. I saw a quote from Declan Rice who played 68 games and he said that was an obscene amount of games. The dedication it takes to be healthy and fit away from the field.

I like the psychology of [Mikel] Arteta saying that you need to play those games, the best players in the world, every three days. It's what you want to do, you want to be a professional footballer, you want to play football.

As much hard work as it is, it's exciting.

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Cooper says he takes Nottingham Forest being bottom of the Premier League “personally” and has called for “realism” and “fight” from his players off the back of their fine win over Liverpool.

Forest ended a run of eight games without a win against Jurgen Klopp’s side and now face league leaders Arsenal on the road on Sunday – a fixture Cooper says is “as tough as it gets at the moment”.

Keen to move on from the Liverpool win, Cooper said: “We will get judged over the course of time. It was a great win. We are still bottom. We still haven’t got enough points, or less than we would have liked. Let’s not lose sight of that. I don’t want to sound negative. That’s the realism, when you’re in a situation like that you have to fight.”

Cooper said he is pleased to have seen “a real hunger” and focus in training after the key victory.

Asked how it felt to still be bottom on Sunday after beating the Reds, he added: “I take it personally. Even before Sunday I knew it was about what was next and focusing on the coming days and the preparation. I’ve liked that attitude in the team this week. The idea has to be about striving to improve and work harder.”

Cooper has been charged by the Football Association for comments made in the aftermath of defeat at Wolves and said: “I do my very best to try to stay in control of whatever emotions you are feeling. In general I like to think I am OK at that. They are emotional jobs, they take you to places you’ve maybe not felt before. You try to stay true to yourself. Sometimes that is standing up for your team, or something you may do or say.”

When Forest looked at their fixture list, they'll have been buzzing to see the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal on there. They'll also have been very aware that playing them back to back was possibly a time to batten down the hatches and prepare for little return.

Not a bit of it.

Last weekend, Forest claimed a statement win for their return season in the Premier League, beating Liverpool 1-0.

Today, they have an even tougher task, heading into Arsenal's den and hoping they can emerge without their head bitten off.

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest's lengthy absence from the top-flight means we have to go back to 1999 for the last meeting between these sides.

Arsenal won that 1-0 at Forest in January of that year. Some bloke called Martin Keown scored the goal.

Forest's only two victories in 27 league visits to Arsenal came under Brian Clough, in 1987 and 1989.