“They will be victorious”- Patrice Evra gives his prediction on Arsenal v Nottingham Forest and expects Arsenal to have a “straightforward win”.
Patrice Evra is tipping Arsenal to return to winning ways in the Premier League by claiming a 3-1 home victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The Gunners are looking to bounce back from having dropped points against Southampton in a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s last weekend, after also having suffered a 2-0 defeat by PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Arsenal head into this game in second place in the Premier League table after Manchester City reclaimed top spot with a 1-0 win away to Leicester City on Saturday.
A win for the Gunners would move them back two points clear at the top of the table.
Sunday’s game will be the first meeting between the two sides in the league since 1999, when Arsenal won 1-0 against Forest away from home.
Forest, who are bottom of the table, have yet to win in the league on the road this season and haven’t scored in any of their top-flight games away from the City Ground.
Former Manchester United defender Evra doesn’t believe that the Gunners will have any problems against the visitors to The Emirates on Sunday and he is backing Mikel Arteta’s side to claim the three points.
Writing in his column for Metro, Evra said:
“After beating Liverpool, I’m sure Forest are over the moon, nobody expected that”.
It was so painful and you could see the anger in [Jurgen] Klopp, he was so disappointed.
“This will be a good game, Arsenal drew against Southampton. I think Arteta’s side will win at home and pick up their winning spell.”
Meanwhile, former Liverpool FC defender Jamie Carragher feels that Arsenal’s impressive recent form under Arteta will be a cause for concern for Antonio Conte’s Tottenham side, who were 3-2 winners against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Gunners have been widely praised for their eye-catching brand of football so far this season, with Arteta having put together a youthful and exciting team at The Emirates.
Arsenal claimed a 3-1 win over Spurs in the north London derby at The Emirates at the start of the month and with the Lilywhites trailing the Gunners in the league, Carragher feels that their bitter local rivals’ fine form will be a concern for Conte.
“Antonio Conte has a major problem at Tottenham Hotspur. It is called Arsenal,” Carragher wrote in his column for the Irish Independent.
“One team in north London is generating headlines for playing with a youthful, energetic swagger. The other is seen as more pragmatic and counter-attacking”.
“Neither side is ‘right’ or ‘better’ in their approach it remains to be seen whether Mikel Arteta or Conte win more trophies at the end of their respective reigns but Tottenham supporters are looking at their rivals and craving similar edge-of-the-seat football.
What adds to their frustration is that Mauricio Pochettino’s best side was providing that and there has been a reset since he left.”
Carragher went on to point to Conte’s record in England, with the Italian having led Chelsea FC to Premier League glory in the 2016-17 campaign.
He continued: “I get that one team in London is currently flying with an exciting brand of football.
But for all the praise of Arteta this season and I agree with it there is an irony that he would consider his career a success if wins half as much as Conte already has.
“Arteta is in the process of proving himself capable of being a Premier League winner. Conte already is one with nothing to prove.”
