Arsenal fans are getting nervous - their painful history could repeat itself

Matz Sels’ heroics and some poor finishing leaves Arsenal irked, forced to settle for a 0-0 draw at the home of Nottingham Forest.

Sound familiar?

It sums up the events of last Saturday night but, equally, it could be applied to the Gunners’ last City Ground visit in February 2025.

That night, the score felt less significant to their Premier League efforts; dropped points extended the gap between Arsenal and leaders Liverpool to 13 and most fans had long accepted that the ‘race’ for the title was over.

Arsenal must not allow the pain of their recent history to derail their Premier League title dreams

There is no such cause for pessimism now – one could even dress up the result as a positive because defeat in the Manchester derby means that Manchester City lost ground on Mikel Arteta’s men when all is said and done.

But no Gooner can shake off the fear that this was a missed opportunity or, indeed, that grim history might just be about to repeat itself.

Even if a seven-point lead is still quite big, it is not enough for peace of mind when being ‘chased’ by a team as relentless as Man City – Arsenal found that out the hard way back in 2022/23 (squandering a seven-point lead then too and finishing second).

And it could have been nine points only they could not find a way past a Forest team that had tasted defeat in four of their previous five league games, a run of form which has left hovering just one place above the relegation zone.

Perhaps this is not the same City group; three draws and one loss from their last four league matches – at a time in the campaign when they are usually already on their end-of-season gallop – indicates it is not the City of old hunting the Gunners down on this occasion (remember, too, how they failed to pull it off last year as well, leaving Pep Guardiola trophyless for the first time since his first season at the club).

Yet results like the 0-0 at Forest stoke angst among a long-suffering fanbase and raise questions over whether or not this Arsenal team, bearing the scars of previous falloffs, have the mental fortitude to get across the line come May – that trepidation only grows further with every cheque that Guardiola writes.  

So, as fans we do not need to go into full-on panic mode, but what we have seen thus far is a familiar tale which has never previously ended with a happy ever after; this is the best chance Arsenal will ever have to set that record straight.

History must not repeat itself.