Forest vs Arsenal 18 Oct 2026: Time IST & TV

The City Ground under floodlights is the later of Sky’s two headline selections on Sunday 18 October 2026. Nottingham Forest host Arsenal at 16:30 BST, which is 21:00 IST and 11:30am EDT. Sky’s own October piece singled out Mikel Arteta’s side travelling to Forest as one of the matches it would show live, alongside Liverpool’s dates with Manchester City and Arsenal. The early game that day is Leeds vs Manchester United at 14:00 BST. They are neighbours on the schedule, not the same broadcast.

Verification note (TheTriFusion editorial): Premier League matchweek amendments list Sunday 18 October, 16:30, Nott'm Forest v Arsenal (Sky Sports). Sky Sports and Radio Times both carry the 4:30pm kick-off on Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra HD in the Radio Times grid. Venue is the City Ground, Nottingham, Forest’s home. India: Star Sports and JioHotstar. Confirm the EPG.

Where Forest vs Arsenal sits in Arsenal’s month

Arsenal walk into the City Ground eight days after hosting Leeds at the Emirates on 10 October at 12:30 BST, and five days after hosting Lille in the Champions League on 13 October. The Munich trip to Bayern is on Wednesday 21 October, three days after Forest. That is three competitions in eleven days. Whatever the team sheet is at the City Ground, it will be discussed against that stack. The sheet itself is not yet confirmed, and this guide will not invent one.

Forest’s home ground is the City Ground, on the banks of the Trent in Nottingham. It is not the Emirates and it is not Elland Road, even though all three grounds host a televised game across these two October weekends. Away fans and travelling supporters should use the club’s entry instructions. We have no ticket inventory and we are not quoting a price.

The Sunday sequence, written as a plan

A practical Indian evening looks like this. 18:15 IST, confirm the Sky or JioHotstar tile for Leeds vs Manchester United. Watch or follow until full time. Reset before 20:45 IST for team news from Nottingham. Forest vs Arsenal starts at 21:00 IST. In the UK that reset is the gap between 14:00 and 16:30 BST. In the US it is the gap between 9:00am and 11:30am EDT. One sofa, two kick-offs, two team sheets.

Sky’s article also flags Liverpool vs Arsenal on 1 November as the next Arsenal Super Sunday. That match is at Anfield at 16:30 GMT, which is 22:00 IST, and the timezone label changes because the UK has moved to GMT by then. Do not copy the 21:00 IST habit from this Forest game onto the Anfield game. The UK hour looks similar. The Indian hour is not.

What we will and will not say about the match

We will not publish a league table, a betting line, or a score forecast. Forest against Arsenal has years of Premier League meetings behind it, some tight, some not. The only table that matters on 18 October is the live one. Check it on the Premier League site that morning and ignore a graphic that does not show its date.

Neutral things worth a second look once the match is on: whether Arsenal’s midweek European minutes show after an hour, how Forest use the City Ground crowd on the first attacking set piece, and which wide player is asked to pin Arsenal’s full-back. Those are watch-points for a viewer, not a coupon. If you are building a match centre for a publisher, keep the FAQ answers in the same words as the visible clock so the schema and the page do not disagree.

IST, UK and US clocks

• Date: Sunday, 18 October 2026
• Kick-off UK: 16:30 BST
• Kick-off India: 21:00 IST
• Kick-off US East: 11:30am EDT
• Venue: City Ground, Nottingham
• UK selection: Sky Sports
• Same-day early game: Leeds vs Man United, 14:00 BST / 18:30 IST

Still BST on 18 October. 16:30 plus 4 hours 30 minutes is 21:00 IST. The GMT switch is Sunday 25 October. Using a winter offset on this date makes the match look an hour later than it is.

On the pitch, once the sheet is real

• Arsenal’s turnaround from Lille on 13 October to Nottingham on 18 October.
• Forest’s first phase of pressure at home.
• Set pieces at the Trent End side of the ground, described by the pictures, not by a guess.
• Substitutions after 60 minutes given the Bayern trip on 21 October.
• Anything in the referee’s appointment only after the league publishes it. It is not yet confirmed here.

No odds, no correct-score claim, no injury rumour presented as fact.

Broadcast path

India

The 21:00 IST slot is the familiar Super Sunday hour for Indian Premier League viewers. Star Sports and JioHotstar hold the 2026/27 rights. Because Leeds vs United kicks off at 18:30 IST on the same rights package, the stream may hand from one match to the next. Open Forest vs Arsenal as its own event so the app does not leave you on a post-match studio.

United Kingdom

Sky Sports is the selector. Radio Times names Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra HD for the 4:30pm Forest game. That is a different package from TNT’s Saturday lunchtime games. A Sky subscription is the UK route; TNT is not.

United States

11:30am EDT fits a late-morning US window on NBC platforms or Peacock. The weekly grid, not this page, assigns the specific channel. Check it on Saturday.

Licensed apps only. If a link asks you to install a new player, close it.

Practical checklist

• 21:00 IST alarm, separate from the 18:30 IST Leeds game.
• Sky in the UK, JioHotstar or Star Sports in India.
• Do not reuse this IST conversion after 25 October.
• Wait for club team news.
• Read the Anfield date as GMT when you get to 1 November.

Why the City Ground date is its own search

People search “Arsenal fixture” and receive a list. The list that matters on this Sunday is the one that says Nottingham, 16:30 BST, Sky. The Emirates lunchtime against Leeds is already played by then. Lille in the Champions League is the Tuesday in between. Bayern in Munich is the Wednesday after. A supporter who only saves “Arsenal” will open the wrong broadcaster or the wrong country. Write Forest in the calendar title even if you support Arsenal. The home team is how the Premier League file names the match, and it is how the Indian app sorts it.

The Trent is not a detail for colour. The City Ground sits by the river, and a 16:30 Sunday in mid-October is a lights game more often than a sunshine game. We are not giving a weather forecast. We are saying that television pictures from this ground look different from the Emirates pictures of the previous Saturday, and that anyone writing a caption should not reuse an Emirates photo. Our own card for this page is a self-hosted graphic with the IST time, not a stock stadium shot.

For the viewer who has already watched Leeds vs United at 18:30 IST, the break before 21:00 is long enough to eat and short enough to miss team news. Check the Forest and Arsenal channels at 20:30 IST. If a player who started against Lille is absent, that is a fact from the sheet, not a rumour this preview is allowed to invent in September. The same rule applies to Forest’s side. We do not have it.

One more clock, because this is the last 16:30 BST Super Sunday before the change. On 1 November, Liverpool vs Arsenal is 16:30 GMT and therefore 22:00 IST. If you build a personal rule that “4:30pm England means 9pm India”, you will be right for this Forest match and wrong a fortnight later. Teach the calendar the letters BST and GMT, not a permanent offset. That is the whole trick of October 2026.

Related reading already on TheTriFusion: Arsenal vs Lille on 13 October, Bayern vs Arsenal on 21 October, Liverpool vs Man City context. See also Leeds vs Man United earlier the same Sunday and Liverpool vs Arsenal on 1 November. For a calendar product or club-site build, see digital marketing, web development, and ecommerce development.

FAQ

What time is Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal in IST?

21:00 IST on Sunday 18 October 2026.

What time is kick-off at the City Ground?

16:30 BST.

Who shows it in the UK?

Sky Sports. Radio Times lists Main Event, Premier League and Ultra HD.

Who shows it in India?

Star Sports and JioHotstar. Confirm the app tile.

Is this the Leeds match?

No. Leeds vs Manchester United is 14:00 BST the same day.

Is the referee named here?

Not yet confirmed on this page.

Treat 21:00 IST as the Forest kick-off only. The Anfield meeting two weeks later needs its own GMT conversion.