Arsenal will receive a long-awaited injury boost on Tuesday as long-term absentee Rob Holding will be available for selection against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. The defender was one of Unai Emery’s most trusted players before his ligament injury and fans may see him in action at the Emirates.
Rob Holding Available for League Cup Clash
Arsenal Team News
As stated, Rob Holding is now available to Emery after a long rehabilitation process. However, neither Hector Bellerin nor Kieran Tierney are fit to play as of yet.
The fullbacks each completed 62 minutes for the U-23 team on Friday night. It was their first rehabilitation match and the pair will likely get another go with Steve Bould’s side before rejoining the first team.
Also joining them was Dinos Mavropanos, who played a full 90. The Greek centre-back is nearing a return to fitness and has returned to first-team training.
Rounding off the injury news is the fact that Alexandre Lacazette is continuing treatment on his ankle. Finally, following his red card on Sunday against Aston Villa, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is unavailable for selection.
However, he also picked up an injury just before exiting the pitch and there is no news yet as to the seriousness.
Nottingham Forest Team News
Former Gunner Carl Jenkinson will likely miss the match against his boyhood club. The right-back swapped the Emirates for the City Ground over the summer but picked up an ankle injury before Forest’s win over Swansea City.
Manager Sabri Lamouchi says he will be out for, “a few weeks.” Joining him on the treatment table are Yohan Benalouane, Michael Hefele, Tendayi Darikwa and Ryan Yates.
Finally, on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Rafa Mir is nearing to match fitness and may make the bench against Arsenal.
Prediction
The last time these two historic clubs met it was in January 2018 in the FA Cup. On that day it was a surprise victory for the Championship club. They sent Arsene Wenger to his earliest exit ever in the competition that he won seven times.
However, don’t expect a repeat of those events. While no one can ever tell just how a match will shake out until it is played, Arsenal have far more quality available in their squad compared to Forest.
Even with some rotation in the starting XI, the Gunners should advance easily.
Predicted score: Arsenal 3 Nottingham Forest 1
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