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Mikel Arteta will not be able to select Myles Lewis-Skelly for Arsenal’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest this week.

The teenager was sent off after bringing down Mohammed Kudus and preventing a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to West Ham. Initially the left-back was given a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson but following a VAR review, the youngster was shown a straight red.

“I haven’t seen it back but honestly, I will focus on what we have to do,” Arteta said after the game. “I don’t know if the decision was right or wrong, I haven’t seen it, I don’t want to evaluate it, but a lot of the things that we should have done better today, it wasn’t.”

Lewis-Skelly will now miss Wednesday’s clash at the City Ground, with Arsenal needing to win to keep any sort of pressure on Liverpool in the title race. Luckily for Arteta, he does have a handful of options available to him when it comes to replacements. football.london takes a look at the players who could come into the side in place of the Englishman.

Riccardo Calafiori

For many, Calafiori is the most obvious replacement. The Italian did not have the best of times against West Ham, though, and was brought off after 56 minutes. The left-back has had injury issues himself this season and has struggled to find rhythm during his time in north London.

The 22-year-old has made 22 appearances this campaign and has, in all, had a decent debut season at Emirates Stadium. His best position still needs to be established though with the former Bologna man also a decent centre-back.

Ben White and Jurrien Timber are both predicted to start for Arsenal in their Premier League match against Nottingham Forest.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: Jurrien Timber of Arsenal (R) reacts as Ben White of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United FC at Emirates Stadium on February 22, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has said he will not be giving up the fight for the Premier League title, going as far to say over his dead body would he surrender the battle. He therefore will be expecting a response from his side as they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Wednesday night.

He has the challenge of again going to the East Midlands knowing the poor record his team have at this particular ground – although, they did manage a win there last season. He has still got concerns regarding the available forwards.

However, he now has the ability to call on Ben White after he returned from injury. With that in mind, here is the football.london predicted line-up for the clash with Nottingham Forest.

Ex-Manchester United shot-stopper Ben Foster has dismissed any potential of Marcus Rashford joining Arsenal.

The Red Devils academy product left Old Trafford in January, heading to Aston Villa on loan after falling out of the pecking order under United boss Ruben Amorim, with all involved eager for a change.

Rashford’s tenure at Villa Park has been promising so far, with the forward teeing up two assists in four games, which notably included a duo of set-ups in their 2-1 triumph over Chelsea on Saturday. Villa could permanently snap up Rashford for £40million when the season concludes.

However, Foster is quite sure that Arsenal is not in Rashford’s future, given the intense historical rivalry with United back from their days jostling for Premier League supremacy.

Arsenal are reportedly facing transfer competition from LaLiga giants Barcelona for the signing of highly-rated Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia this summer.

The Gunners were heavily linked with a move for Garcia last summer and had a €20million (£16.5m / $21m) offer rejected in the closing stages of the window as they looked for a backup for No.1 David Raya.

Arsenal ended up bringing in veteran stopper Neto on a season-long loan from Bournemouth but have kept tabs on Garcia’s development at Espanyol as they prepare a new offer at the end of the current campaign.

While Espanyol held firm on their valuation of the 23-year-old keeper last time around, they are somewhat resigned to losing one of their key players this time given that Garcia has a €25m (£20.7m) release clause in his existing contract.

Indeed, Garcia recently hinted at his potential departure from the club in the summer and said he will try, although he will try and make his exit happen in the ‘best way’ for the Spanish side.

Arsenal, however, are not expected to have a free run at Garcia’s signature, with reports in Spain suggesting that Catalan giants Barcelona are also plotting a move for the player.

Barca are reportedly looking to install a new first-choice keeper at Camp Nou with the Marc-Andre ter Stegen still out on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

Arsenal will be looking to respond to their defeat to West Ham United with a statement result away at one of the league’s trickiest grounds. Beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground would be an almighty boost, especially ahead of the last-16 in the Champions League.

The squad remains thin on attacking options, and that is something which Arteta now must continue to try and solve despite repetitively highlighting the shortcomings and subsequent overachievement, in his mind, this season based on those restrictions.

The return of Ben White against West Ham offers something different and there are other players who can provide variance in the team.

Something needs to change and for me, the wide areas have been a real disappointment in recent weeks, struggling to have the desired impact. Ben White’s return along with the option of Kieran Tierney, for me, means there is a chance to return to a back three with wing-backs flanking.

That back three is made up of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes – it makes sense. Thomas Partey and Declan Rice adding further cover and security.

Then Martin Odegaard supporting a top two of Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard. The wing-backs offer the width and penetration while finally adding something of an unpredictable feel to this team that has been missing for some time.

Arsenal’s mid-season sunshine trip to Dubai cost a whopping £1.2million, it has been claimed. After the Gunners crashed out of the Carabao Cup against Newcastle United earlier this month, Mikel Arteta took his squad over to the Middle East for a six-day warm weather training camp.

The entire first-team squad and a large amount of backroom staff travelled by a private charter plane on Thursday, February 6 and came home on Wednesday, February 12. Arsenal’s trip to Dubai was a mix of rest and recuperation but they also trained hard – and had only one complete day off.

And it was during one of those training sessions where Kai Havertz suffered a serious hamstring injury. The Germany international has since undergone successful surgery and his focus is on returning for the 2025/26 season, though there is a slight chance he could feature before the end of the current campaign.

Arsenal then lost their first home game back as they were beaten 1-0 against West Ham which has all-but ended their Premier League title hopes as Liverpool moved 11 points clear on Sunday.

Arsenal plan to sign Ollie Watkins and Benjamin Sesko in the summer transfer window, with a journalist revealing the Gunners’ stance on the two strikers as a former north London favourite could head to Chelsea.

Watkins is one of the best strikers in the Premier League and was the subject of a bid from Arsenal in the January transfer window. With the Gunners desperately looking for a striker late in the window following the injury to Gabriel Jesus, the north London club tried their luck with an offer for Watkins, who has scored 158 goals and given 66 assists in 426 appearances in his career. Villa turned it down.

Sesko is another striker that Arsenal tried to sign in the middle of the season, as Arteta finally realised that getting a top-quality number 9 was going to be key in beating Liverpool in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners approached RB Leipzig for the 21-year-old Slovenia international, but they stopped short of making a bid after being told that he was not available.

Mikel Arteta has provided new injury updates on Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka before the Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest. The Gunners were dealt a damaging title blow this past weekend after being beaten by West Ham.

A challenging trip to the City Ground now awaits for Arteta and his players with third-place Forest having the chance to close the gap down to three points. The Mikel Merino striker experiment failed against the Hammers, but Arteta could be forced to deploy him there again.

In the late stages, Ethan Nwaneri appeared to pull up as he was taken off, however Arteta believed it was not because of injury.

Arteta later confirmed there was no issue while also offering updates on Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. “Yeah, Ethan, he was just cramping,” he said on Tuesday. “Obviously, his load has been very different in recent weeks, but he’s fine. And Bukayo and Gabi, yeah, they are progressing really well, but they’re still a bit far to come back.”

There is hope the pair can return after the March international break which means they could still miss several huge games. “That’s a question for the doctor,” he told football.london during a press conference earlier this month when asked if they could play against PSV in the Champions League last-16 next month.

Arne Slot has made his feelings clear about Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak amid ongoing transfer talk linking him with both Liverpool and Arsenal. The Magpies have made their stance clear; they do not wish to sell the Swedish striker, who is one of the most sought-after forwards in the world, after another impressive season in black and white.

Eddie Howe’s side have slapped a reported £150million asking price on his head, with both the Gunners and Liverpool looking to invest in their forward line in the upcoming summer transfer window. Mikel Arteta’s side have been repeatedly linked with Isak over the course of the last two windows, in their quest to add an out and out goalscorer to their ranks.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are reportedly set to revamp the top end of the pitch, regardless of whether or not Slot’s men win the Premier League title this season, with Isak reportedly on their transfer wishlist. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Reds, clash with Newcastle, Slot was asked about the in-form Magpies’ striker. He said: “It’s an understatement to say he’s in fine form.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has warned Liverpool about getting complacent in the Premier League title race despite the 11-point gap, as Arne Slot reveals whether he believes that the trophy is in the bag already.

With defending champions Manchester City having a torrid season and Chelsea failing to sustain their good form, it is now only Arsenal who have any hopes of stopping Liverpool from winning the Premier League title this season. The Gunners are second with 53 points from 26 matches, while the Reds are at the top of the standings with 64 points from 27 games.

Last weekend, Arsenal suffered a huge blow in their quest to win the title, as they lost 1-0 to West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool won their game the following day, beating Man City 2-0 away from home at the Etihad Stadium.

It would now take a monumental slip-up from Liverpool for Arsenal to catch up with them, but Arteta is not writing off his side’s chances yet.

Arsenal will take on Nottingham Forest away from home at the City Ground on Wednesday evening, and ahead of the Premier League game, Arteta made it clear in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that Liverpool should not count their chickens yet.