SETTABLOID

Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Premier League took another hit on Wednesday night as they drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest to likely lose even more ground on Liverpool.

Despite having the better of the minimal chances, the Gunners went another game without finding the back of the net as their struggles in-front of goal continued.

Failure to come away from Nottingham with three points was followed by another win for Liverpool. The league leaders were on course to beat Newcastle United on Wednesday at the time of writing meaning Arteta’s men are now 13 points off the top of the Premier League.

Arsenal’s next five fixtures

March 4 vs PSV Eindhoven (A) at 8pm – Champions League L16

March 9 vs Manchester United (A) at 4.30pm – Premier League

March 12 vs PSV Eindhoven (H) at 8pm – Champions League L16

March 16 vs Chelsea (H) at 1.30pm – Premier League

April 1 vs Fulham (H) at 7.45pm – Premier League

Arsenal dropped more points despite performing much better on the road at a difficult ground. It almost certainly surrenders the title as the Gunners begin to look more over their shoulders.

Riccardo Calafiori nearly went from villain to hero early in the first half. Firstly getting booked inside three minutes and nearly giving away a penalty, to then spinning the Forest defence before firing a strike on to the post.

Both Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba had to put in massive tackles on Chris Wood in the game, last-ditch moments that showcased the strategy of the home side, to absorb pressure and hit on the break.

Here is how football.london rated the performances of the Arsenal players:

William Saliba – An amazing challenge from William Saliba to deny an obvious goal for Chris Wood from close-range. Consistent throughout the game and the standout on the night for the Gunners besides a late loose pass. 7

Gabriel Magalhaes – Excellent early tackle on Chris Wood to stop a counterattack striker. 7

Riccardo Calafiori – Booked inside three minutes after a cynical stop on Callum Hudson-Odoi. Had a great effort at goal, spinning the Forest defence before angling a shot to the far post, unlucky. That yellow was likely the reason he was taken off at half-time. 6

Jorginho – Coming into the side as the only change from the weekend, replacing Thomas Partey. The Italian gave what he always does, a solid display, calmness and accurate passing and was replaced midway through the first period after a solid game. 7

Declan Rice – After his poor display against West Ham, Mikel Arteta clearly wanted a response and he did get that. The key progressor from the first half, taking several players on to find a shot and delivering a great corner Merino arguably should’ve scored from. 7

After a quiet January transfer window, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is planning for a significant squad overhaul in the summer.

TEAMtalk understands that the Gunners are planning to go big on new signings and a number of players could also leave the club.

Kieran Tierney has already reached a pre-contract agreement to return to former club Celtic and Jorginho has reportedly agreed terms with Flamengo for a free transfer.

We have taken a look at five other players who are fighting for their futures at the Emirates. Note: we’ve not included Takehiro Tomiyasu or Gabriel Jesus, who have both been ruled out for the rest of the 2024/25 season.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

Zinchenko joined Arsenal from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 and played a key role in turning Arteta’s side into title contenders.

But the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori and the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly has seen him plummet down the pecking order this season.

The Ukraine international has made just 14 appearances in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, only four of which have been starts.

He has also entered the final 18 months of his contract at the Emirates and there have been no talks over a possible extension.

Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid were reportedly looking to sign the 28-year-old in the January transfer window but a move failed to materialise.

Zinchenko – who was a boyhood Arsenal fan – now has a chance to prove his worth to Arteta once again before the summer window opens.

Jakub Kiwior

Arsenal forked out an initial £17.5million and another further £3.5million in potential add-ons to sign Kiwior from Spezia in January 2023.

The versatile defender has been an able understudy to William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of their defence, while also providing strong cover at full-back.

But he remains a bit-part player and has made just 16 appearances in all competitions in 2024/25, with only two starts in the Premier League.

As things stand, Arsenal are reportedly willing to let the Poland international leave in the summer if they receive an offer in the region of £20million.

He has been linked with several European clubs, including Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Bologna, Sevilla, Villarreal and Marseille.

The 25-year-old may get more opportunities before the end of the season as Arteta’s side battle for silverware on two fronts, and he will need to impress if he wants to save his Arsenal career.

Thomas Partey

One of the first signings of the Arteta era, Partey joined Arsenal from Atletico Madrid in the 2020 summer window for a fee of £45.3million.

The midfielder endured an injury-stricken campaign in 2023/24 but has been one of Arsenal’s standout performers in recent months.

Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest looking to rediscover winning form after their defeat to West Ham at the weekend. Mikel Arteta sees Liverpool take on Newcastle hoping for a glimmer of fortune to help revive the club’s title ambitions.

The Spaniard must do so still without many of his key starting players. However, he has now welcomed Ben White back into the squad, and Ethan Nwaneri is fine after overcoming some fatigue over the weekend.

Forest, meanwhile have basically a fully fit squad to choose from and Nuno Espirito Santo has some selection headaches. After the 4-3 defeat to Newcastle, form has dipped and they have lost three of their last five matches. The Gunners will hope to exploit this.

Saliba brilliant

Goal-saving slide challenge from Saliba, just as Wood was about to shoot. Brilliant from the Frenchman

Wood denied

Wood is slipped through and manages to squeeze a shot at the Arsenal goal. Easy save from Raya, who parries away.

Mikel Arteta will not be able to select Myles Lewis-Skelly for Arsenal’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest this week.

The teenager was sent off after bringing down Mohammed Kudus and preventing a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the second half of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to West Ham. Initially the left-back was given a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson but following a VAR review, the youngster was shown a straight red.

“I haven’t seen it back but honestly, I will focus on what we have to do,” Arteta said after the game. “I don’t know if the decision was right or wrong, I haven’t seen it, I don’t want to evaluate it, but a lot of the things that we should have done better today, it wasn’t.”

Lewis-Skelly will now miss Wednesday’s clash at the City Ground, with Arsenal needing to win to keep any sort of pressure on Liverpool in the title race. Luckily for Arteta, he does have a handful of options available to him when it comes to replacements. football.london takes a look at the players who could come into the side in place of the Englishman.

Riccardo Calafiori

For many, Calafiori is the most obvious replacement. The Italian did not have the best of times against West Ham, though, and was brought off after 56 minutes. The left-back has had injury issues himself this season and has struggled to find rhythm during his time in north London.

The 22-year-old has made 22 appearances this campaign and has, in all, had a decent debut season at Emirates Stadium. His best position still needs to be established though with the former Bologna man also a decent centre-back.

Ben White and Jurrien Timber are both predicted to start for Arsenal in their Premier League match against Nottingham Forest.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: Jurrien Timber of Arsenal (R) reacts as Ben White of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United FC at Emirates Stadium on February 22, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has said he will not be giving up the fight for the Premier League title, going as far to say over his dead body would he surrender the battle. He therefore will be expecting a response from his side as they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Wednesday night.

He has the challenge of again going to the East Midlands knowing the poor record his team have at this particular ground – although, they did manage a win there last season. He has still got concerns regarding the available forwards.

However, he now has the ability to call on Ben White after he returned from injury. With that in mind, here is the football.london predicted line-up for the clash with Nottingham Forest.

Ex-Manchester United shot-stopper Ben Foster has dismissed any potential of Marcus Rashford joining Arsenal.

The Red Devils academy product left Old Trafford in January, heading to Aston Villa on loan after falling out of the pecking order under United boss Ruben Amorim, with all involved eager for a change.

Rashford’s tenure at Villa Park has been promising so far, with the forward teeing up two assists in four games, which notably included a duo of set-ups in their 2-1 triumph over Chelsea on Saturday. Villa could permanently snap up Rashford for £40million when the season concludes.

However, Foster is quite sure that Arsenal is not in Rashford’s future, given the intense historical rivalry with United back from their days jostling for Premier League supremacy.

Arsenal are reportedly facing transfer competition from LaLiga giants Barcelona for the signing of highly-rated Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia this summer.

The Gunners were heavily linked with a move for Garcia last summer and had a €20million (£16.5m / $21m) offer rejected in the closing stages of the window as they looked for a backup for No.1 David Raya.

Arsenal ended up bringing in veteran stopper Neto on a season-long loan from Bournemouth but have kept tabs on Garcia’s development at Espanyol as they prepare a new offer at the end of the current campaign.

While Espanyol held firm on their valuation of the 23-year-old keeper last time around, they are somewhat resigned to losing one of their key players this time given that Garcia has a €25m (£20.7m) release clause in his existing contract.

Indeed, Garcia recently hinted at his potential departure from the club in the summer and said he will try, although he will try and make his exit happen in the ‘best way’ for the Spanish side.

Arsenal, however, are not expected to have a free run at Garcia’s signature, with reports in Spain suggesting that Catalan giants Barcelona are also plotting a move for the player.

Barca are reportedly looking to install a new first-choice keeper at Camp Nou with the Marc-Andre ter Stegen still out on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

Arsenal will be looking to respond to their defeat to West Ham United with a statement result away at one of the league’s trickiest grounds. Beating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground would be an almighty boost, especially ahead of the last-16 in the Champions League.

The squad remains thin on attacking options, and that is something which Arteta now must continue to try and solve despite repetitively highlighting the shortcomings and subsequent overachievement, in his mind, this season based on those restrictions.

The return of Ben White against West Ham offers something different and there are other players who can provide variance in the team.

Something needs to change and for me, the wide areas have been a real disappointment in recent weeks, struggling to have the desired impact. Ben White’s return along with the option of Kieran Tierney, for me, means there is a chance to return to a back three with wing-backs flanking.

That back three is made up of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes – it makes sense. Thomas Partey and Declan Rice adding further cover and security.

Then Martin Odegaard supporting a top two of Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard. The wing-backs offer the width and penetration while finally adding something of an unpredictable feel to this team that has been missing for some time.

Arsenal’s mid-season sunshine trip to Dubai cost a whopping £1.2million, it has been claimed. After the Gunners crashed out of the Carabao Cup against Newcastle United earlier this month, Mikel Arteta took his squad over to the Middle East for a six-day warm weather training camp.

The entire first-team squad and a large amount of backroom staff travelled by a private charter plane on Thursday, February 6 and came home on Wednesday, February 12. Arsenal’s trip to Dubai was a mix of rest and recuperation but they also trained hard – and had only one complete day off.

And it was during one of those training sessions where Kai Havertz suffered a serious hamstring injury. The Germany international has since undergone successful surgery and his focus is on returning for the 2025/26 season, though there is a slight chance he could feature before the end of the current campaign.

Arsenal then lost their first home game back as they were beaten 1-0 against West Ham which has all-but ended their Premier League title hopes as Liverpool moved 11 points clear on Sunday.