Arsenal v Nottingham Forest: Premier League – live

Match at Emirates Stadium kicks off at 12.30pm (BST)

Postecoglou vows to helm Forest back to ‘rightful place’

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In September 2023, Ange Postecoglou secured a creditable 2-2 draw for Tottenham at Arsenal in his first north London derby. It was a moment – six Premier League games into his tenure – when people wondered whether his team might be the real thing. In September of last year, after another derby against Arsenal, this one at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the manager came out with his famous comment about how he always won silverware in his second season. And here we are again. Postecoglou versus Arsenal in the early weeks of a season; the plot-lines crackling.

It is a little sleepy around the stadium at the moment; too early in the day, perhaps, for any Ange-baiting from the Arsenal support. That will change. It is rare that a visiting manager transcends a game here but that is the unmistakable vibe around Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest debut. He has succeeded a very popular guy in Nuno Espirito Santo at a club where a major power battle has just played out, Edu (the ex-Arsenal sporting director) getting the vote of confidence from Evangelos Marinakis rather than Nuno. Postecoglou’s preferred approach is the polar opposite to that of his predecessor. And he must get it to click immediately. Good thing Ange has never taken the easy path.