Arsenal will be hoping to regain top spot in the Premier League when they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta‘s side are just a point behind Manchester City, who edged in front thanks to a 1-0 win at Leicester on Saturday.
The visitors are rooted to the foot of the Premier League, but come into the clash on the back of a memorable victory against Liverpool last weekend.
Arsenal, by contrast, were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Southampton in their last Premier League outing, and lost 2-0 to PSV Eindhoven in midweek.
It’s therefore an intriguing fixture but, somewhat unusually for a Sunday, it’s not being broadcast by Sky Sports.
Why isn’t Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest on TV today?
Despite football fans becoming accustomed to Super Sunday double-headers in recent years, today’s fixture – which kicks off at the Emirates at 2pm – is not being shown live.
Instead, Sky Sports Main Event will be showing the T20 World Cup clash between India and South Africa.
Super Sunday will then start at 3pm on both Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with the build-up to Manchester United vs West Ham, which kicks off at 4.15pm.
Fans will therefore have to wait until Match of the Day 2 at 10.30pm on BBC One to see full length highlights of the game.
As per the Premier League’s broadcasting rights, Sky Sports airs between three and four games each week, with BT Sport tending to show the Saturday lunchtime fixture.
This week, the broadcaster opted to air Liverpool’s clash with Leeds rather than Arsenal vs Forest. Usually, this would have formed part of a Sunday Sunday double-bill with West Ham’s trip to Old Trafford.
However, the scheduling of Premier League fixtures this season is being affected by the condensed Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League competitions ahead of the winter Qatar World Cup.
Arsenal, Man Utd and West Ham were all in action on Thursday night, which meant their games had to take place on Sunday.
Liverpool, however, are playing Napoli in their final Champions League group game this Tuesday – which means their fixture with Leeds had to take place on Saturday.
This is why Jurgen Klopp’s side were in action at the slightly unusual time of 7.45pm last night, succumbing to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat as their poor start continued.
It aired as part of a rare Sky Sports Saturday night double bill, following Fulham’s goalless draw with Everton.
What can you expect from Arsenal vs Forest?
Arteta admitted ahead of the fixture the lack of goals from his Arsenal strikers is becoming a concern.
The 2-0 reverse to PSV in the Europa League was just a second defeat of the season for the Gunners, who can move two points clear of Manchester City at the Premier League summit with a win today.
Despite their fine run, summer signing Gabriel Jesus is goalless in his last six appearances, while Eddie Nketiah’s strike against Bodo/Glimt on 6 October was the last time an Arsenal striker found the back of the net.
“We need goals and we need goals from our front players, that’s for sure, to win the games and to give us bigger margins (of victory),” Arteta said.
“Obviously, that run of a lack of goals has to end for us to be in a position to win more matches, that is for sure.”
One of Arsenal’s issues last season was not being able to react to negative results but, having bounced back from defeat to Manchester United in September with a run of eight straight wins, the manager wants to see the same again.
“The best way after defeat is to win the next game, that’s 100 per cent for sure,” he added.
“We have a great opportunity on Sunday in front of our crowd, we’ve been incredibly good at home and we have to see a different side.”
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Henderson has proved his worth in the early part of the campaign after his season-loan long from Manchester United.
The 25-year-old has certainly been kept busy as the Reds have struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League, and only Brentford’s David Raya has made more than his 48 saves so far this campaign.
He was in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Nations League matches last month, but that was with Jordan Pickford out injured, so he is realistically competing with Aaron Ramsdale – his opposite number today – and Nick Pope for one of the goalkeeping spots in Qatar.
Former England Under-17 coach Cooper reckons Henderson has done all he can to get himself on the plane in a few weeks, but will not be calling in any favours with his friend Southgate.
“He’s playing well for us, but like everything else this week it’s about trying to improve in the next game,” Cooper said.
“There’s no doubt he’s had some really important moments for us this season. There are the stand-outs, like a couple of saves last week, but we’re obviously looking at the whole performance.
“I’m sure the staff at England are monitoring him and he’s given himself the best chance, for sure.
“It’s good for Dean that he’s playing regular Premier League football, because that’s in the end how you get to showcase your abilities and your levels.”
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