Nottingham Forest will have no fear of a striker-starved Arsenal in Wednesday's Premier League clash, and the Gunners must adopt the approach of trying to stay in the game and nicking a win, according to Charles Watts.
Second meets third at the City Ground in midweek, where Arsenal are bidding to right the wrongs of their disheartening 1-0 loss to West Ham United over the weekend, their first home defeat of the Premier League season.
That derby loss coupled with Liverpool comfortably seeing off Manchester City increased the Reds' advantage at the summit to a mammoth 11 points, although the Gunners do have three wins to boast from their last three games against Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo's high-flyers also shipped four in an 11-minute period against Newcastle United in Sunday's 4-3 thriller, but they have been tipped to switch to a three-man backline in midweek, and Watts can envisage a painful watch for Gooners.
"It's going to be very tough, no doubt about it," Watts told Sports Mole. "They're fantastic, they've picked up so many results. I was there last season, it was a real hard-fought win for Arsenal. They sparked that brilliant second half of the season.
"You go back to the goalscorers that night, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka. Neither of them are going to be available. So it is going to be a really difficult game for Arsenal on the back of a demoralising defeat against West Ham.
Arsenal warned about 'devastating' Forest counter-attacks
"Arteta's demeanour in his press conference, I think a lot of that would have been in terms of his players like, 'look, come on, there's still plenty to go for.' He will want a response. For all Arsenal's issues going into that West Ham game, the performance wasn't good enough, despite who wasn't available and who was having to play where.
"You would hope the players would want to give a response as well. They're going to have to be really, really on it tomorrow. An intense atmosphere, a Forest side who are going to play on the counter-attack with devastating effect.
"I think Forest will play three at the back. They're going to have lots of defenders packing that penalty area and Arsenal have to find a way to get through them. It didn't work against West Ham, it didn't look like it had a clue how to get through. They're going to have to be better tomorrow night if they're going to give themselves any sort of opportunity."
Arsenal's 5-1 demolition of Man City at the start of the month now feels an age ago, as a Kai Havertz, Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Saka-less Gunners side lacked attacking inspiration all afternoon against Graham Potter's West Ham.
Makeshift number nine Mikel Merino failed to have a single shot on target, while Arsenal collectively managed just two attempts on goal; 10 of their other 20 were blocked by West Ham's steadfast defenders.
A string of defensive failures allowed Jarrod Bowen to head in the winner near the end of the first half, and Watts emphasised the importance of Arsenal not conceding first again on Wednesday night, stressing that the Gunners simply need to stay in the game before trying to just convert one opportunity.
Watts: 'Forest will not be scared of Arsenal'
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"I don't think any team who prepares to face Arsenal is going to be scared," he added. "They're going to be looking at this Arsenal team and they're like, 'look, if we're sensible here and we don't get ourselves drawn out, we don't do anything stupid, we're going to be able to keep them at arm's length relatively easily.'
"That's just the challenge that Arsenal face. Against Newcastle, they had some real danger men to deal with. That's not going to happen. Arsenal are going to have to really work for every single win they get at the moment.
"They're going to have to stay tight, they didn't do that against West Ham. If they could have stayed at 0-0 in the second half, they could have edged it like they did against Leicester. But they conceded first from a really sloppy play.
"It's not just about the attack. It's about making sure in this situation that they don't fall behind. That goal was a really poor goal to concede. They can't afford to do that in this situation because the first goal in Arsenal games is so crucial because of what they've got in attack. If you stay in the game, you've always got a chance of nicking it. That has to be Arsenal's approach at the moment."
As well as the stricken Saka, Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Arsenal will be missing Myles Lewis-Skelly on account of his record-breaking second red card of the season at the weekend, where he was dismissed for a last-man foul on Mohammed Kudus.
Lewis-Skelly was only a substitute in the derby defeat anyway, as Arteta gave Riccardo Calafiori the nod before hooking the Italian just before the hour following his part in Bowen's winner.
Will Calafiori keep place after West Ham failings?
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Calafiori failed to prevent Aaron Wan-Bissaka from sending in the pinpoint delivery, and Arteta does have both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney in reserve, but Watts expects the former Bologna man to have a shot at redemption.
"I think he'll probably stick with Calafiori," he added. "It was an interesting double sub, hooking Calafiori and Declan Rice early on. I was very surprised about the Declan Rice substitution. He wasn't playing great, but when you're not looking like scoring, you need your set pieces to be on it, and he's Arsenal's best set piece taker.
"Calafiori definitely didn't cover himself in glory. He let that cross come in too easily, but there were so many errors there. The tracking of Partey, the tracking of Declan Rice the whole way through. I still think David Raya should be coming out and claiming that cross, Bowen heads it about four yards out, and David Raya is so aggressive with the way he comes out usually.
"I was really surprised he stayed on his line in that situation. I think Declan Rice was surprised as well by the look that he gave him. So there were lots of things that Arsenal could have done better to prevent that goal.
"Unless he changes formation, and unless he does do something different that we're not expecting and goes with a wing-back, I think Calafiori will probably stay there. Lewis-Skelly would definitely have started this game if he hadn't got sent off, no doubt about it."
While Lewis-Skelly is suspended, Arteta provided a positive update on his fellow Hale End graduate Ethan Nwaneri after he limped out of the defeat to the Irons, while also explaining why he would only cede the Premier League title 'over his dead body'.
Arteta might still believe that Liverpool can be reined in, but Watts took a different view when asked if the race for glory was still alive.
Ben Knapton
