Nottingham Forest get back to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to face Arsenal.
The Gunners have won two of their first three games of 2025/26 and will provide Forest with a stern test after their 3-0 defeat to West Ham before the international break.
Nuno Espirito Santo is at loggerheads with Edu behind the scenes and the future of the Forest head coach appears to be open for discussion.
Espirito Santo was hoping to chat with Evangelos Marinakis during the international break, and it would seem that no news is indeed good news.
Forest need to get back to winning ways pretty sharpish, but have a turgid record at the Emirates Stadium since winning promotion, losing all three games.
With that in mind, there’s perhaps some scope for Espirito Santo to mix things up a little bit.
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Nottingham Forest XI that could give Arsenal something to think about
There is an argument for some changes for the Arsenal game, and the signings will get chances between now and the next international break.
Some are perhaps more deserving of a chance than others, and the international break might play a part in Espirito Santo’s thinking against Arsenal.
Defensively, it’s hard to imagine too many changes, with the back five largely settled.
However, in midfield, Ibrahim Sangare has been to Africa to play for the Ivory Coast and perhaps this is the perfect game to get Douglas Luiz on the pitch.
He’s not played a single minute yet since checking in and now feels like a good time to get him involved.
Morgan Gibbs-White was awful against West Ham, but his work rate might be useful in a deeper midfield role along with Elliot Anderson, who is undroppable.
It feels unlikely that Espirito Santo will drop Chris Wood, and even though he’s travelled to the other side of the world, we think he will start.
Out wide, Callum Hudson-Odoi could be in line for a rest, with Dan Ndoye dropping over to the left and Dilane Bakwa coming in for a debut on the right.
Espirito Santo has a big month coming up as Forest head coach
Anything Forest can take from a trip to Arsenal will be a bonus, but it’s what comes after that which will shape Espirito Santo and his future.
Forest have Swansea to play in the Carabao Cup and Real Betis to face in the Europa League, with league games against Burnley and Sunderland thrown in for good measure.
The Reds have to look to win both of the league games in September after the Arsenal trip, and if the cup games can be positive too, that would help the Forest head coach.
There will come a point when he has to use his squad more emphatically, and perhaps the early shoots of that can be seen during the clash with Arsenal.
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