Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal team news: Lucas Perez to start, starlet Chris Willock set to feature, Olivier Giroud out
Willock, who has the No 68 shirt, is yet to make his debut for Arsenal. He has been included in pre-season tours
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LUCAS PEREZ is set to be handed his second start for the Arsenal in their EFL Cup third round tie against Nottingham Forest – while starlet Chris Willock is also expected to feature.
Striker Perez, a £17million addition from Deportivo, had made his first start for the Gunners in their 2-1 win over Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.
The highly-rated winger Willock, 18, is the older brother of Arsenal Under-18 ace Joe,17, and the younger of Manchester United Under-23 star Matthew, 20.
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Willock, who has the No 68 shirt, is yet to make his debut for Arsenal. He has been included in the team's pre-season tours, and regularly trained with the first team last season.
Olivier Giroud will still not be available for the Gunners, he has been suffering with a toe problem and also missed the 4-1 win over Hull City on Saturday.
Boss Arsene Wenger said: Everyone came out of the Hull game well. Giroud is still not available - we will see at the end of the week if he can join in [ahead of the Chelsea match]."
The manager added that defender Gabriel is in line to make his first start of the season, but Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson have no chance of featuring. Ramsey is a major doubt for the weekend's fixture against Chelsea too.
Wenger said: "Gabriel has a chance to play against Forest. Jenkinson is improving, he is not quite back in full training yet.
"Ramsey is still out - I don’t think he will be ready for the weekend either."
Kieran Gibbs, David Ospina and Rob Holding are among the more established players expected to play.
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