Soccer News of Friday, 12 September 2025

Source: www.soccernet.ng

Confirmed: Super Eagles star to miss Nottingham Forest clash vs Arsenal

The photo used to illustrate the story The photo used to illustrate the story

Two-time UEFA Champions League winners Nottingham Forest are set to travel to the Emirates to take on Mikel Arteta's Arsenal on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Reds secured a win against Brentford on the opening Premier League matchday before a draw against Crystal Palace and a loss to West Ham followed.

Over the International break, things have changed on the sidelines at Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked by Evangelos Marinakis, and former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou was appointed to take charge.

Super Eagles defender Ola Aina pulled up with a hamstring injury inside ten minutes of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying clash between South Africa and Nigeria.

The ex-Chelsea man was able to walk off the pitch without the stretcher, and has now returned to Forest for further assessment.

Ahead of the Arsenal game, Forest's new coach Postecoglou mentioned he has a fully fit squad for the game against the North Londoners, except for Aina [and Zinchencko, who had an underlying injury], who returned with an injury.

“We have a clean bill of health apart from Aina. He had a problem with the national team,” the Australian said in his first press conference as quoted by Metro UK.

“The rest of the boys, today is the first day I’ve had my eyes on them, and they’re all fine. Zinchenko is the only one who isn’t fine,” the ex-Spurs manager continued.

Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived at Forest on deadline day from Arsenal, but he left-back will be unable to fill in for Aina against his parent club. Instead, Nicolo Savona is expected to deputise at left-back, having signed from Juventus in the summer.

Postecoglou did not win any of his four games against Arsenal during his time at Tottenham, and is expecting another tough game against the North Londoners in front of their home crowd.

“It is what it is. The first four games are away, so I got a good look at the stadium today.

“Every Premier League fixture is challenging. It’s a great game. Mikel (Arteta) has got them off to a good start. They’ve strengthened over the summer,” Ange concluded.

Forest have a tough run of fixtures in the coming weeks. After the game against Arsenal, they'll play against Swansea (EFL Cup, away), Burnley (EPL, away), Real Betis (Europa League, away), FC Sunderland (EPL, home), FC Midtjylland (Europa League, home), and Newcastle United (EPL, away).