Forest’s Thrilling Shake-Up: Gibbs-White Starts, Toffolo Returns, Danilo Benched Against Arsenal
Nuno Espirito Santo’s selection options are likely to still be somewhat limited for Nottingham Forest’s clash with Arsenal on Tuesday night.
The Reds were without 10 players for Friday’s 0-0 draw at Bristol City in the FA Cup due to a combination of injuries and players being on international duty. And the squad may well be stretched again for their midweek Premier League match against the Gunners at the City Ground.
Morgan Gibbs-White returned from an abdominal issue at Ashton Gate, and Nuno confirmed he would start against Arsenal. The Forest head coach then quickly tapped some wood, hoping he hadn’t cursed the attacker with a sudden setback.
However, Anthony Elanga, Divock Origi, Taiwo Awoniyi and Felipe were sidelined for the fourth round tie. And Ola Aina, Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Ibrahim Sangare, Cheikhou Kouyate and Moussa Niakhate are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
All six of the Reds’ AFCON players reached the knockout stage of the tournament. Ivory Coast (Aurier, Boly, Sangare) play Senegal (Kouyate, Niakhate) in the round of 16 on Monday, so at least some players will return to the City Ground soon whichever way that result goes. Aina’s Nigeria are through to the quarter-finals after beating Cameroon 2-0.
In the meantime, Nuno must continue to cope without the AFCON contingent. We take a look at how Forest could line up against Arsenal on Tuesday.
The Reds registered their first clean-sheet under Nuno when they shut out the Robins at Ashton Gate. That will be a confidence booster for goalkeeper Matt Turner. Reports suggest Forest have changed their minds about strengthening between the posts this month, so the American could soon find his place under threat. He will no doubt want to do well against his former club, though.
Gonzalo Montiel had something of a tough evening against Bristol City. Neco Williams did well when he came on, albeit operating as a winger, so Nuno could switch between the two if he wanted to make a change. He might well opt for continuity in the back line by sticking with the Argentine, though.
Nuno has kept faith with Andrew Omobamidele since handing the centre-back his debut in the first third-round FA Cup game against Blackpool. The former Norwich City man was one of the positives from Friday night as he put in an assured performance at Ashton Gate.
Brazilian Murillo has been having a slight dip in form of late – certainly compared to when he burst onto the scene earlier in the season. It is easy to forget he is still young and relatively new to not just English football but first-team football in general. With Boly and Niakhate away and the futures of Joe Worrall and Scott McKenna uncertain, Nuno will likely stick with the Omobamidele-Murillo partnership, though.
Forest will be required to make at least one change to the defence as Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares will not be able to play against his parent club. Harry Toffolo could feel a bit hard done by at being left out of the XI for the last three games but is set for a recall on Tuesday night.