Arsenal’s title ambitions have taken another hit after successive draws- a 0-0 away at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, followed by a 1-1 result at Old Trafford against arch rivals Man United over the weekend. The goalless stalemate was the first such result at the City Ground in the Premier League since 1998, and the Gunners are now a whopping 15 points behind Liverpool in the race for the title.
The Forest game
Both teams came into this fixture on the back of defeats, with Arsenal having lost to West Ham and Nottingham Forest conceding four against Newcastle on Tyneside. Forest, not surprisingly, opted to play defensively and shut up shop, and were ecstatic with the point gained at the final whistle, while their opponents cut a dejected face.
Forest had about 35% possession in the whole game and made a shade under 270 passes. Their six shots didn’t really count for much, accounting for just around 0.40 xG. Arsenal had more than twice the number of shots, but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Gunners’ lack of cutting edge upfront could probably be put down to the absence of their key attackers, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all injured for Mikel Arteta’s side. In their absence, Arteta was forced to ask compatriot Mikel Merino, a midfielder by trade, to play upfront.
While this was a case of two points lost for the Gunners, Forest were delighted with the result as it kept their noses ahead of the likes of Man City and Chelsea in the table. With over two-thirds of the season completed, Nuno’s men qualifying for the Champions League doesn’t look like a pipe-dream any more, and the best football odds on the market currently seem to suggest it is a genuine possibility.
Forest also laid down a statement with a 1-0 win over defending champions City in Week 28- there was a lot riding on that game for both teams, and the home side ran out winners, with in-form goalkeeper Mats Sels also keeping another clean sheet in the process.
Not surprisingly, four Forest players were named in that round’s Team of the Week & so was Nuno as manager- another indicator of how good their performance was!
Liverpool beat Newcastle United 2-0 at home in an early dress rehearsal for the Carabao Cup final, with midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister netting for the Reds at Anfield. Newcastle failed to register even a single shot on target, and were restricted to less than 40% possession by Arne Slot’s men.
The table is still pretty crowded through- while Liverpool and Arsenal have moved away from the rest of the pack, only 7 points separate third placed Forest from 9th placed Bournemouth, which means that there’s everything to play for in the final third of the campaign.
For now, the Gunners will turn attention to Europe, where they will be in action in the Champions League Round of 16 against PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal are almost guaranteed of progress to the last eight, and they are expected to fly the flag for the league in the absence of both Liverpool and City, who were eliminated by PSG and Real Madrid respectively.