Arsenal lost more ground in the title race after a draw with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
They came closest to scoring through Riccardo Calafiori. He spun around Nicolás Domínguez in the penalty area and whipped a strike with his weaker right foot onto the post as it bounced to Matz Sels.
It was an indictment on a display that, though better than the paltry performance against West Ham United, lacked the ruthlessness in the final third to take apart a stubborn Forest block. Not for the first time, fans would be frustrated to see how ball control counts for very little if there is no penetration.
Here are four things we learnt from the draw:
Mikel Merino is not a one-stop solution as the striker
Mikel Merino is the man that Mikel Artetahas assigned the trust to be the new central forward in the absence of Kai Havertz. He had the ultimate impact for the team off the bench against Leicester, but he has since hit a lean patch as the full time replacement in the role, firing blanks in both of his starts.
The 28-year-old still showed signs as to why his fellow Basque had faith in him. Four of Arsenal's best chances came from set-pieces. He had two himself, set up an effort for William Saliba with a flick-on at the far post, and then could have crashed the ball goalbound from the near side if Kieran Tierney had not taken the opportunity away from him. He is a man who lives for aerial duels.
Yet, that is not enough. In open play, he could not assert a penalty area presence over the central defenders in a stubborn low block. In fact, a lot of the time, he was rotating into wider areas on the left side of the field to help the side recycle possession. The visitors loaded the box with options less consistently than on the weekend and it was one of the factors that cost them all three points.
Merino is trying his best and does not look like a fish out of water. However, he will not be able to bail out the offence from bigger problems that have been plaguing it since the start of the season.
The midfield must be rethought in the summer
Forest’s defending offers the type of challenge where you want more magic in the final third and can commit bodies into advanced areas of the field. But Arsenal have not built a squad to do this well.
It is common knowledge that the attack relies on the right side of the field. Ben White will offer a different dynamic from deep zones with his overlaps, but clubs have clocked onto the threat of Martin Odegaard and the star boy on the outside— be that Bukayo Saka or Ethan Nwaneri.
That is where the balance from the 2022/23 season has set apart that version of the team from this iteration. Declan Rice remains a willing carrier of the ball, can hit an accurate switch of play, and has rightly received acclaim for his corner kick deliveries. But yesterday was one of those contests where one can see the slight stiffness and hesitation if he has to pick the lock through the tightest of gaps.
To nitpick at the flaws of a key cog is a problem in and of itself. Emile Smith Roweand Fabio Vieira are no longer in the picture, so Oleksandr Zinchenko came on next to Rice as a midfielder. It is only the second time that he has featured in that nominal position for the Gunners— and the second time in five days. Injuries are no excuse and raise more questions about the construction of the squad.
Riccardo Calafiori is not your conventional Italian defender
The doubts about the left sided dynamics are not just about the midfield options. This draw did not do much good for the standing of the summer's most expensive signing, who also operates on the left.
Riccardo Calafiori stood out in this contest with his self-assurance in the final third. Not many of the squad's forwards spring to mind as players who would pull off the effort he hit in the first half and it is not the first time that the Italian has ventured successfully into the danger zone in this campaign.
But attacking is not his day job, and Calafiori can allow his offensive instincts to get the better of him, and rivals are aware of that weakness. Callum Hudson-Odoi has mostly played on the left wing for Forest this season but is a capable threat on both flanks and switched sides for the start of this game.
In four minutes, the defender had picked up a yellow card for a foul on the winger. Not long later, he was a little fortunate that his opposite man did not earn a penalty. That mistake was similar to his fault in the buildup to the winning goal for West Ham United as Aaron Wan-Bissakarecorded an assist.