Arsenal produced a stunning forty-five minutes of football against Manchester City recently, indicating that they have to be considered as Premier League top four contenders this term. However, the only way in which the Gunners are going to secure silverware is by either winning the EFL Cup or the English FA Cup.

Two seasons ago, Mikel Arteta managed to steer Arsenal to FA Cup glory and he will hope this can be managed again. Their route to Wembley starts with a trip to the Midlands where the north London side will line up against a Nottingham Forest side who started their Championship campaign pretty badly but have subsequently shown a heap of improvement under Steve Cooper.

Are Arsenal a Good Bet to Beat Forest in FA Cup?

Arsenal are trading at around the 3/4 mark to win at the City Ground in normal time. If we knew that the visitors would be fielding their strongest side, it is clear that this would be excellent value considering that there’s a big gulf in class. Indeed, this is a Premier League side who outplayed Manchester City for much of a recent clash.

However, we are virtually certain that Arteta won’t field the strongest possible XI. This match takes place in between two EFL Cup semi-final encounters against Liverpool, while a trip to Tottenham for a north London derby looms large on the horizon. Therefore, we can’t expect to see many first-teamers in the lineup.

Emil Smith Rowe has been used sparingly in recent weeks due to the England international struggling to get into the Starting 11 and we might expect him to play along with Ainsley Maitland-Niles. There is also likely to be Nicolas Pepe in the team’s attack, while Albert Sambi Lokonga is a Belgian international and so there will be quality in the ranks.

However, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli might all be given the afternoon off and the same applies to Thomas Partey. The visitors might therefore be a little disjointed as they look to make further progress in this competition.

Nottingham Forest Could Be a Good Bet at a Big Price

The Tricky Trees have had a funny old season. Under Chris Hughton, Nottingham Forest immediately looked like relegation contenders, although the ship has been steadied by Steve Cooper who has provided plenty of optimism that the Midlands club could challenge for a play-off spot this season.

At the time of writing, Forest sit ninth in the Championship table and they have had plenty of time to prepare for this clash unlike their opponents. The slight downside is that the home side have recently suffered a couple of defeats, although Middlesbrough and Huddersfield are two of the tougher opponents in the division right now.

While Cooper’s chief focus will be steering the team into the play-offs this season, this fixture actually falls at a good time and perhaps there is some value in backing them to land a scalp. Lewis Grabban is an experienced striker capable of landing a goal against higher-ranked opponents, while James Garner is on loan from Manchester United and eager to make a name for himself.

What Are the Best Bets for this FA Cup Clash?

We think it could be worth having a wager on both teams to score at the City Ground. From a defensive point-of-view, Arsenal will surely be weakened even if they can count on Bernd Leno between the sticks. We do think that Nottingham Forest on the Asian Handicap could also be a potential route to profit, with the Tricky Trees available at a decent price with half a goal start.

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