Martin Keown makes worrying Arsenal prediction after Nottingham Forest draw | Football
Martin Keown is fearful that Arsenal could slip out of the Premier League top four if they don’t find a quick solution to their lack of attacking threat.
Martin Keown makes worrying Arsenal prediction
In desperate need of a positive result, it was familiar attacking woes that came back to haunt Mikel Arteta’s side as they played out a 0-0 draw with third-place Forest at the City Ground.
And with Liverpool cruising to a 2-0 victory against Newcastle at Anfield, Arsenal’s title hopes are now hanging by a thread given they trail Arne Slot’s side by 13 points.
Still without key players in the forward line, Arteta stuck with Mikel Merino as the focal point of Arsenal’s attack but the Spanish midfielder did little to trouble Forest’s impressive back line.
In fact it was two left-backs who came closest to breaking the deadlock, with Riccardo Calafiori striking the post in the first-half before Kieran Tierney headed wide from a corner after the break.
And having mustered just one shot on target in the entire game, the Gunners were forced to settle for a goalless draw and more dropped points in front of their travelling fans.
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli still appear some way of a return to full fitness but Arsenal are in immediate nead of attacking solutions having now failed to score in back-to-back league games for the first time since May 2023.
And while accepting that Arsenal’s title hopes were virtually dead in the water, Keown admitted that this former side will soon be looking over their shoulders if they can’t rediscover their threat in front of goal.
‘Well you’re going to keep playing for the shirt, you’re going to keep going for it but obviously now you have to adjust your targets,’ the former Arsenal defender told TNT Sports at full-time.
‘Just because you can’t be champions you can’t sling it all away. There’s definitely a chance now that if they don’t score goals there is a danger that they might slip out of the top four.
‘Arsenal must win United match’
‘So tonight now, coming away with a point, is a very important so Forest don’t catch Arsenal. They need to get back to winning ways, they have to win their next game.
‘They’ve got a rest now before PSV (Eindhoven) but their next league game is away at Manchester United and they certainly have to win that one.’
Speaking after the game, Arteta admitted that he and his coaches will go back to the drawing board and try to find solutions to reignite Arsenal’s attacking spark.
‘We try and adapt to the qualities they have, how we can help the team to create different things, to have threats from different qualities,’ Arteta said.
‘Probably they are not about arriving in the box and creating some magic moments. They are all the kind of players and we try to adapt to that and do the best that we can.
‘We have another day or two now to think before the PSV game. Other options that we have, especially against a team that will set up in a low block.’
