Arsenal kick off their 2023/24 Premier League campaign at home to Nottingham Forest as they're looking to go one better this time around after falling agonisingly short last season.
The Gunners fell painfully short of a first Premier League title since 2004 last season having been pipped to the crown by Manchester City despite having led the league table for the majority of the campaign.
A late season dip in form allowed their ruthless rivals to swoop in and seal their third straight title in the closing weeks of last season and Mikel Arteta and co will be hopeful that they now have the facilities to avoid a repeat of such events.
Arsenal have had an impressive summer in the transfer window having recruited Kai Havertz, Jurriën Timber and Declan Rice for the first team while goalkeeper David Raya is now seemingly on the verge of arriving from Brentford.
Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen has been the only high-profile departure in terms of regular starters, but there are likely to be more outgoings (and possibly another incoming) before the transfer window closes.
The Gunners played their first competitive game of the season last Sunday in the FA Community Shield against Manchester City and won 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw that saw Leandro Trossard equalise at the death with a fortuitous deflected strike.
Arsenal played well throughout the game and will be satisfied with their performance so Mikel Arteta will feel as though his side are coming into this game in good shape.
A 1-0 defeat at the City Ground at the back end of last season saw Arsenal's title chances all but done and dusted so this game has sentimental value for The Gunners beyond the three points on offer.
Forest are a competitive side but this is not a game Arsenal should be failing to win.
Nottingham Forest finished 16th in the Premier League last time around in what was an unequivocal success for The Reds.
Things looked dicey at times as manager Steve Cooper struggled to mould an excessive number of summer signings into a coherent unit but the penny finally dropped late in the campaign as Forest secured survival with an impressive late season run where they lost just one of their last six games.
Naturally, ambitions now extend beyond just survival but they likely need to be busier in the transfer window in its final weeks if they are to really kick on this season.
Winger Anthony Elanga has arrived from Manchester United in what is probably Forest's most shrewd signing of the summer while goalkeeper Matt Turner has also recently arrived from this weekend's opponents, a signing that fills the urgent void left between the sticks following Dean Henderson and Keylor Navas both returning to their parent clubs.
On top of that, right-back Ola Tina has been signed from Torino while Chris Wood's loan move has been made permanent so Forest have had a fairly solid summer in terms of incomings and should have enough to ultimately stay up.
They are, though, still a few pieces away from being able to mount a serious push for a top half finish and there have been persistent rumours surrounding a potential departure of forward Brennan Johnson, something the club will most likely want to avoid.
Preseason has not been encouraging for Steve Cooper's side so they'll have to hope that's not an indicator of how they're going to perform this season with his side falling to a number of worrying defeats.
Having won just once on the road in the league last season Forest will have to dramatically improve their form away from home this time around if they are to avoid an anxious season and that's something Cooper and co will no doubt be targeting coming into this campaign.
They've been given one of the toughest away days in the Premier League calendar to kick off the campaign so avoiding defeat will be tough, but as long as they give a good account of themselves they can take enough positives from the outing.
For our Arsenal vs. Nottingham Forest prediction, we're going for a 3-0 win or the home side.
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