Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal issue laid bare as Forest boss Nuno delivers damning assessment

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal failed to score for the second Premier League game in a row as their attacking shortcomings were laid bare against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday

Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo claimed Arsenal’s lack of striker options meant his side didn’t need an extra defender on Wednesday night.

Forest went into the game having lost three of their previous four games, conceding 11 times in the process. The exception was a 7-0 win at home to Brighton, in which Nuno benefited from an extra starting centre-back, moving to a back three.

Against Arsenal, though, they stuck with their regular pairing of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo as part of a 4-5-1 set-up. It was enough to keep the Gunners at bay, with a game of few big chances ending scoreless.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was limited in his attacking options, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz all out injured. Midfielder Mikel Merino started as part of a front three once more, and the Spaniard didn’t appear to leave the home side too worried.

Speaking on TNT Sports after the game, pundit and former Gunners defender Martin Keown asked Nuno whether he was tempted to bring back the five-at-the-back approach. However, the manager’s answer was telling.

“As Arsenal doesn’t have a striker… there’s no need for an extra body,” the Portuguese manager said. “The overload will be in the midfield, so it drops – it’s about containing the midfield.”

Speaking separately to BBC Sport, he added: “After this period we had conceding it was important to go back to basics – solid, clean sheet. We had a couple of moments to do it better. But in terms of the game, positive because it was very important to go back to the team we are that allows us to be successful.”

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Arteta saw improvement from his Arsenal side after they fell to a home defeat against West Ham over the weekend. “Very different standard,” he said. “We defended with energy, purpose, fight, willingness to make things happen. It wasn’t because we lacked that. We tried until the end but weren’t able to do it.”

When asked about the lack of attacking options, he told BBC Sport: “Same as before. It’s what we have. We look forward to working with what we have.”

Arsenal now sit 13 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, but their manager stopped short of conceding the title. “It was same a week ago, two weeks ago, three months ago,” he added. “The only thing we can do is win our matches and see how many points we get.”

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