Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal team news: Nicklas Bendtner starts against his former club as Granit Xhaka returns

Bendtner makes his first start for Forest against his former club while Henri Lansbury also faces his academy side

Nicklas Bendtner starts for Nottingham Forest against Arsenal in the EFL Cup (Getty)

Nicklas Bendtner faces his former club Arsenal after being named in Nottingham Forest’s starting line-up for the EFL Cup clash at the City Ground, where Arsene Wenger has made 11 changes to his side.

Bendtner has played little over an hour of football this season since joining Forest on a free transfer, and he is handed his first start by head coach Philippe Montanier against the club where he made his name.

Wenger has never been one to take the League Cup too seriously, as demonstrated by his mass squad rotation for the majority of games in the competition. The Gunners first venture into the renamed EFL Cup follows suit, with the Frenchman making 11 changes to the side that eased past Hull 4-1 at the weekend.

£35m summer signing Granit Xhaka starts in midfield alongside Mohamed Elneny, while Gabriel Paulista returns in defence for his first competitive fixture of the season having suffered an ankle injury in pre-season. He partners a recalled Rob Holding, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Kieran Gibbs on the flanks.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chuba Akpom play either side of Jeff Reine-Adelaide in an attacking midfield trio behind striker Lucas Perez, who gets another chance to impress with Olivier Giroud still absent through a toe injury.

Forest meanwhile make three changes to the side that suffered a 2-1 loss to Norwich last time out that saw their winning run at home this season come to an abrupt end, with Bendtner leading an attack that also includes Ben Osborn, while former Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury also starts against his old club.

Forest haven’t beaten Arsenal since they met in the top flight in December 1996 where Ian Wright scored before being sent-off in a 2-1 loss for a side still getting used to their new manager, a certain Arsene Wenger. In the two League Cup meetings between the two clubs, Arsenal have won them both, the last of which came more than 23 years ago.

Teams

Nottingham Forest (4-1-4-1): Stojkovic; Pereira, Mancienne, Mills, Lichaj; Cohen; Dumitru-Cardoso, Lansbury, Kasami; Osborn; Bendtner.

Subs: Smith, Fox, Carayol, Lica, Hobbs, Grant, Vellios.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Maitland-Niles, Holding, Gabriel, Gibbs; Xhaka, Elneny; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adelaide, Akpom; Lucas.

Subs: Macey, Bielik, Sheaf, Mavididi, Willock, Zelalem, Dasilva

Referee: Paul Tierney