Nottingham Forest 1-0 Arsenal – 3 talking points as Gunners stall again

Arsenal slumped to yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Nottingham Forest thanks to a first half goal from Taiwo Awoniyi and handing Manchester City the title in the process.

If fans needed any more convincing that this Arsenal team had run out of gas, then their 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest all but confirmed it.

With the team clearly struggling against Brighton last time out (a 3-0 loss at home), it was evident then, and Arsenal barely laid a glove on Forest, who were fully deserving of their 1-0 win.

The Gunners, as usual, dominated possession, but one could argue it was as toothless as they have looked in attack all season. The mental and physical toll of the title race has caught up to them.

Arsenal simply wasn’t at it against Forest, and the home side took that advantage and ran with it. The loss now marks back-to-back losses and no goals scored for Arteta’s side as they desperately need the finish line.

The game provided plenty of talking points; here they are.

Arteta’s bizarre changes

We aren’t really sure what to make of how Arteta set out his team against Forest, but it was eyebrow-raising, that’s for sure.

Thomas Partey started at right back as the thought was for him to become more inverted in a similar way to Oleksandr Zinchenko. Jakub Kiwior was pushed out to left back (even with Kieran Tierney in the side, which all but spells the end for him), and both moves simply didn’t work.

Whether it was by necessity or Arteta trying something new as the title race was over, but the changes were certainly odd, and Arsenal suffered as a result.

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