After suffering potentially the biggest blow yet to their hopes of Premier League glory, Arsenal bid to keep their increasingly thin chances alive when they tackle high-flying Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Wednesday.
The Gunners' January transfer gamble backfired again in Saturday's 1-0 derby loss to West Ham United, but their hosts also succumbed to defeat in gameweek 26, coming out on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline at Newcastle United.
Match preview
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Mikel Merino's hero arc off the bench at Leicester City proved to be a false dawn for Mikel Arteta and co, as with the emergency striker starting from the first whistle on Saturday, Arsenal were repelled time and time again by a sturdy West Ham side and were punished to the maximum for their toothlessness.
In addition to their failings up front, Arsenal were uncharacteristically caught out defensively for Jarrod Bowen's crucial header in the first half, and the absence of a ruthless centre-forward in the Gunners' ranks stuck out like a sore thumb as they tried pitifully to claw their way back.
Gooners would have swapped their red scarves for sky blue ones for a couple of hours on Sunday, but with Liverpool getting the job done against holders Manchester City, the gap between first and second is now a whopping 11 points, even if the Reds have played an additional game.
Arsenal may very well have lost the Premier League title on the same weekend that they lost their unbeaten home record for the top-flight season; a penny for the thoughts of the transfer gurus who opted to stick rather than sign in January, and it is arguably now Champions League or bust for Arteta, who will be without a senior striker for the rest of the season.
If there is any crumb of comfort for Gooners to take heading into the weekend, it is the fact that their side have strung together an eight-game unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League - winning four of their last five - but the last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches, the first defeat in that sequence also came at home to West Ham.
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While there was a shortage of goalmouth action at the Emirates, St James' Park was the location for a seven-goal spectacular over the weekend, where a late fightback from Nottingham Forest could not undo the damage from an 11-minute capitulation in the first half.
Callum Hudson-Odoi's opener preceded a phenomenal quartet of Magpies strikes from Alexander Isak (2), Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy, before Ryan Yates and Nikola Milenkovic made things incredibly interesting as they exposed Newcastle's set-piece deficiencies in the final half-hour.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo's side were ultimately condemned to their third straight away defeat in the top flight, one that leaves them just three points clear of Newcastle in fifth as question marks begin to appear over their Champions League credentials.
Home is still where the heart is for the Garibaldi, though, as their 7-0 annihilation of Brighton & Hove Albion on February 1 extended their unbeaten run at the City Ground to seven matches - six of which they have won - and not since August have the hosts failed to score on their own patch.
The Tricky Trees' attacking powers waned in a 3-0 away defeat to Arsenal back in November, though, and that comprehensive win for the Gunners marked their third straight victory in this head-to-head; a fourth is surely a must lest their title hopes crash and burn entirely, if they have not already.
Team News
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Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for Arsenal on Saturday, as Myles Lewis-Skelly - only on as a substitute in the second half - picked up a record-breaking red card for denying Mohammed Kudus a clear goalscoring opportunity after the Ghanaian robbed him of the ball.
The Gunners are not expected the 18-year-old's sanction like they did his unjust Wolverhampton Wanderers red card, so Lewis-Skelly will serve a one-match ban on Wednesday, likely leading to a shot at redemption for Riccardo Calafiori after a disappointing showing at the weekend.
Lewis-Skelly joins Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Gabriel Martinelli (hamstring), Kai Havertz (hamstring) and Gabriel Jesus (ACL) on the sidelines, but Ethan Nwaneri ought to be given the all-clear despite coming off with fatigue at the weekend.
The Merino starter experiment did not work against West Ham, but Arteta's only real alternative is to bring the ineffective Raheem Sterling back into the lineup, which he was loath to do at the weekend before Nwaneri limped off.
In stark contrast, Forest have almost a clean bill of health for Wednesday's fixture - only backup goalkeeper Carlos Miguel (hamstring) is missing - although Santo did report some knocks to unnamed players in his pre-game press conference.
The Tricky Trees boss has toyed with a back three at times this season, and given how badly Arsenal struggled against a West Ham side set up in that exact fashion, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur coach might consider taking a leaf out of Graham Potter's book.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato; Aina, Anderson, Yates, Williams; Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard
We say: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
Forest's defensive catastrophe at Newcastle should have little bearing on Wednesday's game, given the fact that Santo's men are back at their City Ground fortress and are facing an Arsenal side with a far less destructive attack if the weekend is anything to go by.
The Gunners are statistically still the best defence in the league and might not have too much trouble keeping their hosts at bay if Santo does indeed go rearguard-heavy, but their ravaged attack should come up short once again, and a frustrating 0-0 could all but spell the end of their title charge.
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Ben Knapton
