Nottingham Forest Vs Arsenal Prediction: The Gunners In Crisis, Could Fall At City Ground

Arsenal are now imagining the season without another title (photo; x @arsenal)

JAKARTA - After suffering a severe blow in the Premier League title race, Arsenal will try to keep their hopes running low when they travel to Nottingham Forest headquarters in City Ground on Wednesday night, February 26 or Thursday morning WIB.

The 0-1 defeat in the London Derby against West Ham United last weekend is proof that Arsenal's decision not to sign a new striker in the January transfer market could be a big blunder. Meanwhile, host Nottingham Forest also suffered defeat in the previous match, losing in the seven-goal drama at St. James' Park against Newcastle United with a score of 4-3.

This season could turn into a nightmare for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta. After successfully overthrowing Leicester City thanks to Mikel Merino's goal, the Gunners actually appeared disappointing in the match against West Ham. Arsenal were unable to break the solid defense of the Hammers and instead conceded through Jarrod Bowen's header in the first half.

Arsenal's poor final finish made it clearer that they needed goal-hungry attackers. However, the club's decision not to sign a new striker on the January transfer window is now increasingly questionable. Where when Gabriel Jesus suffered an ACL injury, Kai Havertz was absent due to a hamstring problem, and Bukayo Saka also suffered a similar injury, Arteta now has to rely on young Ethan Nwaneri or return to play Raheem Sterling, whose performance is far from satisfactory.

As a result of this defeat, Arsenal are now 11 points behind Liverpool at the top of the standings. The hope of winning the Premier League is running low, and the only chance for the Gunners to avoid a trophyless season is to perform optimally in the Champions League.

If there's one positive thing Arsenal can take ahead of this game, it's their pretty good away record this season. The Gunners are unbeaten in the last eight away games in the Premier League, including a win in four of the last five games. However, the defeat to West Ham could be a bad sign, as the last time Arsenal lost in a row in the Premier League, the first defeat in the series also took place against West Ham.

While Arsenal had a nightmare at the Emirates, Nottingham Forest was actually involved in a drama-packed match at St. James' Park. Callum Hudson-Odoi had brought Forest ahead, but in 11 minutes they conceded four goals from Alexander Isak (2), Lewis Miley, and Jacob Murphy.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo's team showed a high fighting spirit by reducing the gap to 4-3 thanks to goals from Ryan Yates and Nikola Milenkovic. Unfortunately, they still failed to bring home points from Newcastle.

This result makes Forest now only three points ahead of Newcastle who are in fifth place, and their hopes of finishing in the Champions League zone are starting to be questioned.

However, there is one advantage for Nottingham Forest in this game: they have an incredible home record this season. The Tricky Trees are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League home games, with six of them ending in wins. A 7-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this month proves how powerful they are at City Ground.

Since August, Forest has always scored goals at home, and they certainly hope to extend this positive record at home to Arsenal. However, they had to be careful, because in the last meeting at the Emirates, Forest was crushed 3-0 by the Gunners.

Arsenal are getting worse with the absence of several key players. Myles Lewis-Skelly had to score one game after getting a red card in the match against West Ham. The 18-year-old player became the youngest player to ever get a straight red card in the Premier League after committing a foul on Mohammed Kudus.

In addition, Arsenal also lost Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (lutut), Gabriel Martinelli (hamstring), Kai Havertz (hamstring), and Gabriel Jesus (ACL). The only good news is that Ethan Nwaneri is most likely fit and can perform from the first minute.

Mikel Arteta now has to rack his brain to determine who will play the main striker. The attempt to use Mikel Merino in the previous match failed completely, but another option was to play Raheem Sterling who also performed poorly when he came on as a substitute against West Ham.

Unlike Arsenal, which is full of injury problems, Nottingham Forest has only lost one player, namely reserve goalkeeper Carlos Miguel, who suffered a hamstring injury. With the squad almost complete, Nuno Espirito Santo can try various strategies to face Arsenal.

Forest kemungkinan akan kembali menggunakan skema tiga bek, mengingat Arsenal sulit menghadapi West Ham yang menerapkan takian serupa. Jika itu terjadi, Milenkovic, Murillo, dan Morato akan menjadi trio di lini belakang, sementara Morgan Gibbs-White dan Callum Hudson-Odoi akan menjadi mainstay di lini serangan.

Arsenal have to win if they still want to keep their Premier League title up, but with a limp squad and poor form up front, the Gunners face big challenges at City Ground.

Nottingham Forest has an incredible home record, and with Arsenal performing poorly against a team that uses a back three, there is a possibility Forest will exploit the weakness.

However, Arsenal still have the quality to win if they can perform more effectively up front and not repeat the mistakes they made against West Ham.

Nottingham Forest (3-4-2-1):Sels; Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato; Aina, Anderson, Yates, Williams; Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.

Arsenal (4-3-3):Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard.

Score Prediction: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Arsenal