Arsenal XI vs Nottingham Forest as Riccardo Calafiori starts and star man drops to the bench

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta welcomes back Riccardo Calafiori into his starting XI for the game against Nottingham Forest today at Emirates Stadium.

Calafiori has been sidelined with a knee injury since the end of October when he limped off the pitch during the Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Italian international’s return is a welcome boost for Arteta’s side, who will be without defender Ben White for the next few months after he underwent surgery on a knee injury.

“Ricci trained today, so his rehab is going really well,” Arteta told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“He was able to do certain things last week with the physios, and trained on the pitch this week with us and today, so he will be in the squad.”

Meanwhile, Mikel Merino and Jorginho start ahead of Thomas Partey and Declan Rice who is still recovering from a broken toe, while Martin Odegaard captains the side.

Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus make up the attacking trio for the 3pm kick-off in north London.

Arsenal: Raya (GK), Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard (c), Saka, Trossard, Jesus.

Subs: Neto, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Partey, Rice, Nwaneri, Sterling, Martinelli, Havertz.