A point gained or two points dropped?

The Gunners returned to league action with a difficult trip to Nottingham Forest. Forest themselves had been struggling for form in the Premier League, but were able to beat West Ham in the previous round of top flight football. Sean Dyche has a decent record against the traditional big six teams this season. His side have beaten Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, drawn with Manchester United and narrowly lost to Manchester City. Only Chelsea and Arsenal thoroughly beat them. However, the stakes were raised due to Manchester City losing to Manchester United in the lunchtime kick off. The Gunners had a chance to pull nine points clear at the top.

First Half

Arsenal began the game fairly well, exchanging a few passes, but also resisting the early Forest press. Chances were at a premium, but Gabriel Martinelli had a few opportunities within the first 20 minutes of the game. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, all three attempts were blocked. Ben White had an effort not long after, but hit it wide. As the half wore on, the Gunners were limited to half chances, that was until Martinelli was gifted a sitter from inside the 6 yard box. Noni Madueke fired a shot at goal, which was blocked, but the deflection fell into Martinelli’s path who got it all wrong. He tried to place his shot in the bottom corner, but instead it curled around the post and ended up off target. That was easily the best chance of the half. After that point, neither side particularly troubled each other and the first half came to a close.

Second Half

Martinelli was replaced at the break by Leandro Trossard, but there was no change in the flow of the match. Morgan Gibbs-White had the first chance of the half, but sent his effort miles wide of the post. Declan Rice then gave Arsenal their first shot on target just before the hour mark. Mikel Arteta’s men picked up the intensity after that point and began giving Matz Sels more to deal with. Bukayo Saka had a header that was very well saved by Sels. Gabriel Jesus then had a close range effort also saved by the Forest keeper. The North London side wouldn’t find the target again, but had a series of close calls. Mikel Merino should’ve done better with his chance, but couldn’t direct it on target. Jurrien Timber also couldn’t angle his header towards the goal. That was it. One golden opportunity squandered that should’ve given us the win.

Statistics

The statistics back up the sentiment that Arsenal deserved to win, but just didn’t take their chances. The Gunners had 15 shots with only 3 on target. This generated an xG of 2.10 with 4 big chances created. Forest only had 6 shots with 0 on target. This created an xG of 0.34 with no big chances.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 6 – Can only really give the average rating. No shots on target from Forest meant he had a very boring evening. He had some work to do with distribution, but not as much as he normally does. He did well anticipating danger, but that’s about it.

White – 7 – I liked his performance. He’s maybe not as dominant defensively as Timber, but he’s much more dangerous in attack. He put in a few decent crosses that should’ve been anticipated better.

Saliba – 7 – He was the calm at the back. Always providing the option for the midfield to relieve the pressure. He wasn’t as bold in his actions as he was against Chelsea, but we didn’t need him to be.

Gabriel – 7 – Dealt with Igor Jesus pretty well and ensured we kept a clean sheet. He was subdued at set pieces, so we couldn’t use that weapon. Overall, a solid display defensively.

Timber – 5 – This left back role is not for him and I don’t know why. It could be down to him feeling the fatigue of the season and needing a break. Almost gave away a penalty, but was thankfully cleared. No impact going forward.

Zubimendi – 6 – He helped maintain possession, but, couldn’t establish the control he wanted. Was given the run around by Elliot Anderson.

Rice – 8 – The best of the players that played the entire game. He almost single handedly kept our midfield in the battle against their midfield. His engine is obscene and was even providing some danger to the opponents. It was him that had the first shot on target. What could’ve been a great performance, let down by the team.

Odegaard – 4 – Supposedly our captain, but is not showing the captain’s mentality to drag the team over the line. He’s weak in his challenges, almost scared to injure himself. That just encouraged the Forest players to tackle harder. In the end he was replaced with much of the 2nd half to play and the team improved.

Madueke – 7 – The best attacker in the first half. He often had to create chances out of nothing due to the lack of cohesion in the side. Still, slightly wayward in some of his final balls, but at least he tried.

Gyokeres – 4 – When he’s bad, he’s really bad. This was one of those occasions. He didn’t anticipate anything and had no desire to create chances for himself. Very, very disappointing.

Martinelli – 5 – He missed the golden opportunity and that is unforgivable. A game like this requires a clinical nature, and he didn’t have it. He had other chances, but couldn’t get it past the defenders. He was hooked at half time.

Substitutes

Trossard – 6 – He was an improvement on Martinelli, but didn’t have the impact we would’ve liked. Obviously he’s known for his clutch moments, but wasn’t even really close to having that.

Saka – 8 (MOTM) – He wins the MOTM award due to the amount of danger he added to the side as soon as he came on. Shots on target became more frequent and chances were increasing. He had a header that was brilliantly saved. He deserved to walk away with a goal or an assist, but that’s exactly the type of performance we need from him.

Jesus – 5 – Another disappointing cameo. He hassled the Forest defence and had a chance to put us up, but was denied by Sels. I do believe if we bring him on then we need to bring him on with someone that will play striker ahead of him.

Merino – 7 – Once again we improved our attacking output when he came on compared to what we went through with Odegaard on the pitch. If his body was as agile as Odegaard he’d be some player, but is restricted by his slower body. Brave on the ball, but should’ve broken the deadlock.

Eze – N/A –

Summary

This was obviously an extremely disappointing result. Especially seeing as we’ve blown two chances to pull further ahead of Manchester City and Aston Villa. We could be sitting 11 points clear. However, we’re still 7 points clear and that’s much better than what we had this time last month. Context is king here. When we played Club Brugge on the 10th December, City were two points behind us, Villa three. Since that Brugge game, the gap is now 7 points. Of the two games we have left in the Champions League, we only need a win from one of them to ensure we finish in the top two, avoiding having to play a qualifier to progress to the knockouts. We have one foot in the EFL Cup final and play our second leg at the Emirates with a goal cushion. Finally, we face Wigan in the 4th round of the FA Cup and we play that at the Emirates. We’ve achieved all that in the 10 games we’ve played since Club Brugge. If you told me that we’d be in this spot on the 10th December then I’d be over the moon. Forest didn’t challenge us at all, they had six shots in total and none of those on target. Defensively, we’re fine. If Martinelli scored his chance, we likely win the game 1/2-0. But, you can’t always score your chances and that’s just how it is. We’re playing a lot of football, so fatigue will set in and performances will falter, but we’re doing extremely well, so let’s not forget that. Up next we have Inter Milan at the San Siro, here’s how I’d line up.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Inter Milan

There’s an obvious need to keep rotating the side as we have a huge Premier League game on Saturday against Manchester United. After two disappointing results, we need to get three points back on the board. However, calls for Arteta to just chuck academy kids out there is unprofessional. Arteta would never throw a game and we’re still not 100% safe from needing to play qualifiers if we lose our next two games. Besides, we have squad depth for games like this. White needs a rest, three starts off the back of an injury is intense. He can rotate with Timber in the 2nd half. Saliba had a rest against Portsmouth, whereas Gabriel didn’t. With Cristhian Mosquera back, he can slot in for Gabriel. Especially as the Brazilian isn’t long back from his injury and has started every game since. Lewis-Skelly can do a job, we know he can. Norgaard and Merino will give Zubimendi and Rice a rest. Madueke can hold his own. After the performance against Portsmouth, Nwaneri deserves more minutes and this a great opportunity against a high level opponent. Eze should grab himself some minutes in that wide left role. Finally, Jesus can lead the line. I don’t love the idea of him leading the line, but Champions League opposition set up differently which could allow him to thrive. We still have Havertz, Saka, Trossard, Martinelli, Odegaard, Rice, Zubimendi and Gyokeres to choose from if we need it. Let’s get it!