The second corner is worse. Scott McKenna heads away at the near post.

There was a mighty big scuffle in the middle between Ben White and Morgan Gibbs-White that ref Michael Oliver tried to stop but utterly failed to do so.

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Bukayo Saka's corner is headed behind at the near post by Serge Aurier. Take two.

No surprise to see Arsenal looking for Bukayo Saka whenever they can.

A good tackle from Ola Aina halts him, but at the cost of a corner.

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Arsenal's first attack is a good one.

Ben White floats a ball over to release Bukayo Saka but his low ball is hacked away before anyone in red and white can capitalise.

As expected, Thomas Partey is in at right back for Arsenal.

Ben White starts in the middle of defence alongside William Saliba.

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Carl: Not sure how Arsenal have cooked up this E-ticketing system so much. Whether it's a paper ticket or one on your phone, you're still just scanning a barcode. It should still recognise it. Clubs up and down the EFL have been using this for years!

Forest's first real act after kicking off is to hammer a long ball own field to try and turn the Gunners defence. It doesn't work. A foul from the visitors stops any pressure.

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It's 30 minutes later than we all expected, and there are still fans not yet inside the Emirates, but we are under way.

The supporters who are inside are doing their best to make noise for those yet to join them.

Applause for the teams taking a knee.

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• Arsenal are unbeaten in their past nine home league games against Nottingham Forest (W5 D4). One of those nine unbeaten games was a 2-1 win in their first game of the 1998-99 season – the last campaign when Forest were relegated from the top flight.
• Forest beat the Gunners 1-0 in their most recent league meeting back in May. They haven’t won consecutive games against the Gunners since September 1978 under Brian Clough.
• Forest gained fewer away points than any other Premier League side in 2022-23 (eight), winning just one of their 19 games on the road.
• Meanwhile, the Reds have lost their opening league game in the past four seasons – but have never done so five times in a row.
• Gabriel Martinelli has scored three goals in his two home games against Forest. He opened the scoring in a 5-0 league win last season, while his first goals for the Gunners came in a 5-0 League Cup victory in September 2019.

This is the first time Gabriel has not been named in a Premier League starting XI for Arsenal since August 2021 in a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City.

It ends the Brazilian's run of 73 consecutive league starts for the Gunners.

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Ashley Williams
Former Wales captain on Football Focus

They are the closest team to Manchester City but they just couldn't get over the hump. They have now beaten them and now [City] are beatable.

Now they know they can go toe-to-toe with them.

I think psychologically, both teams don't waver but it is a positive thing for Arsenal

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber speaking in an exclusive interview on Football Focus: "It has been overwhelming. Everything is going well."

On the Community Shield win: "It was special. Really special. Being at Wembley, a final. It is special.

On his desire to play for Arsenal: "Five years later I think it is good that I said it out loud [that I was a fan of Arsenal].

Did you speak to Van Dijk about the Premier League? "I did, without telling the boys at the national team. I asked him what he thought about the Premier League. Everybody was positive about Arsenal. I won't say names but everyone was positive about Arsenal.

Do you take pride in inspiring youngsters? "That is what it is all about, inspiring the youth. Young players look up to you and I had the same team when I was as young player looking up to the players in the first team. Just the way Ajax showed love on that day [I left] was nice.

On becoming the latest Dutchman to play for the Gunners: "I think the players are so big, they are layers that make you fall in love with the club.

"I think [success] is just a goal of the club and I am now part of it."

Steve Cooper is on the away bench. The teams are in the tunnel. The ground is gearing up for kick off. There are still a lot of fans yet to get inside, though.

Looks like we're just going to crack on.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Technical director of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, Howard Webb, speaking on BBC Football Focus: "I am always happy going into a new season. We are feeling positive and got some new initiatives that will cause debate but we feel that they will help the game.

"There are two focuses, participant behaviours and effective playing time. The average time last season in League Two was 48 minutes with the ball in play. In the Premier League it was 54 but it can be more than that.

"There has been a lot of focus on us being better at dealing with timewasting tactics. It is an area where we can positively impact the game.

"I knew there would be ore time on the fourth officials board, just based on the methodology that we are applying. People are asking for a fair calculation of time lost.

"We are hoping it will settle down to about two or three more minutes than used to be added on."

You can expect to see more added time in the Premier League this season as part of new rules applied to English football.

Observers of the Football League over the last week will have seen much longer periods of injury time at the end of games as officials attempt to better reflect the amount of time lost during the 90 minutes.

In addition, players and managers have been warned they face tougher punishments for poor behaviour at games.

The new penalties are part of a charter , externalintroduced by football's authorities for the 2023-24 campaign.

Managers and coaches will also have to adhere to new rules covering the technical area.

The new measures state players "must not confront, invade the personal space of, or make physical contact with the match officials".

They add that "two or more players surrounding a match official in a confrontational manner will result in a yellow card and be reported to the Football Association".

The new measures also address the issue of fan behaviour and, in particular, tragedy chanting, which involves singing about stadium disasters or fatal accidents involving players or supporters.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

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Referees’ chief Howard Webb will not allow top flight officials to turn a blind eye to bad behaviour from players and coaches any more.

Last weekend marked the start of an attempt to punish those who cross the line of acceptability.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was booked for waving an imaginary yellow card during the Community Shield win over Manchester City following a tackle by Rodri, whilst West Brom manager Carlos Corberan has been charged by the FA after being sent off in his side’s opening day defeat at Blackburn.

Players were also booked for kicking the ball away amid a clampdown on time wasting.

So, it's quarter to 1pm (which is the re-scheduled kick-off time) and there are still a lot of people queuing to get into the ground.

It is an E-ticketing issue that is causing the problem and stopping people getting in.

What do they do here? Another delay? Or just start it and hope they can get everyone in safely in a timely enough fashion not to miss too much?

What a mess.

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