‘It has really cost them’ – BBC pundit shares why Arsenal would drop points again v Forest tomorrow | OneFootball

Arsenal suffered a huge title blow at the weekend after they lost 1-0 to West Ham United and found themselves 11 points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, and they will be desperate to return to winning ways when they take on Nottingham Forest at The City Ground on Wednesday.

Failure to leave with all three points will see the Gunners lose more ground in the title race and Chris Sutton expects that to happen for a couple of reasons.

Arsenal played with ten men for the last 17 minutes against the Hammers after Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off, and the North London club have now had the most players (five) sent off this season.

“Arsenal have stuffed up their title bid haven’t they?” Sutton told BBC Sport.

“There are many reasons for that, but one of them is their indiscipline – it has really cost them this season. They need to win every game from here to match their points tally from last season but will that happen with Mikel Merino playing as a makeshift centre-forward? I don’t see it, and they seem to be making it up as they go along

“Saturday’s home defeat by West Ham was a real hammer blow for Arsenal’s title hopes. They need to bounce back and find a way of beating Nottingham Forest but this is a tough trip after such a devastating result, and I am not so sure they will take the points here either.

“Forest are not in great form themselves, and got a bit of a walloping by Newcastle. Nuno Espirito Santo was clearly unhappy with some of his side’s defending in that game. But how are Arsenal going to score goals? I don’t know at the moment.

“If Gunners boss Mikel Arteta needs a left-back, he has got a few of them on the bench. Unfortunately he needs a centre-forward, and there is not one of those to be seen.”

Arsenal have to cut out the red cards as they have managed just a win in the five games they have had a player sent off, losing two and drawing the other two, and those dropped points have proven costly so far.

Their refusal to buy attackers in January is starting to look like a poor decision and Arteta will be praying his injured stars return to action sooner rather than later.

The Gunners need a miracle to end the season on an impressive note across all competitions, and a win tomorrow will be a great boost for their slim title hopes.

A defeat or even a draw will all but end their chances of winning the league even if it will still be mathematically possible, and Arteta has to find a way to get the best out of his players and get his tactics spot on against a tough opponent with a point to prove.