Earlier this month, Mikel Arteta once said that Arsenal needed to affirm their position by maintaining the top spot and widening the gap with the teams behind each week.
It is true that The Gunners have widened the gap with Man City, but it is largely due to The Citizens' own mistakes, rather than Arsenal convincingly winning against opponents to decide that.
Round 21, Arsenal drew Liverpool 0-0 and also with no goals scored, they shared points with Nottingham in round 22. In the last 4 matches, Arsenal won 2 but luckily for them, Man City drew 3 and lost 1. If Man City recreates the sprint like every year, perhaps now the top of the table has changed owners.
For the first time since 2012, Arsenal has only drawn 2 consecutive matches and has not scored a single goal. In both matches against Liverpool and Nottingham, there have been many words "if only".
They did not take advantage of good opportunities in the match against Liverpool and also could not beat Nottingham goalkeeper Matz Sels. Statistics also show that in the last 5 times playing away at City Ground, Arsenal only won 1.
One of the reasons explained for Arsenal not making as much effort as usual to beat Nottingham away from home is Mikel Arteta's slow reaction.
In many situations, the Spanish strategist no longer maintains the fire of enthusiasm like previous away games. This season, Arsenal played quite well away from home, they have won 6/11 matches since the beginning of the season in the Premier League. However, the match against Nottingham was not uncommon.
Not only that, in the past 11 away matches, Arsenal conceded 6 goals first and only had 1 win with a 2-goal difference or more (the win against Burnley 2-0 on November 1, 2025).
When matches fall into a stalemate, the role of the striker is very important because just a moment of brilliance from them, the deadlock will be broken. Gabriel Martinelli has done a lot since the beginning of the season, but in the match at City Ground recently, he was completely deadlocked.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres also had a situation to open up an opportunity but could not overcome the obstruction from Murillo to launch a shot.
Man City's defeat to Man United and Arsenal's draw against Nottingham remind fans of the fierceness of the Premier League, where all calculations can be meaningless.
Arsenal took the field after Man City lost the Derby but could not take advantage of the advantage to further widen the gap with the opponent.
Mikel Arteta is not without awareness of that. In the match against Nottingham, the Spanish coach used all 5 substitutions, 4 of which came before the 60th minute.
This is a rare time Arteta has substituted so rushedly and quickly. The Arsenal captain really wanted to take the lead early, but no matter how much he pressed, the goal did not come.
The draws against Nottingham were a very big challenge for Arsenal to surpass the mark but they did not succeed. However, that does not mean Arteta's team has the right to be shaken. The Gunners have stumbled but The Citizens are even worse. The advantage is still in hand and Arsenal needs to solve it.
This is the first time Arsenal has lost points in 2 consecutive matches in the Premier League this season. Now, they must prove that these goalless draws are just an exception and will not be allowed to repeat again on the road to glory.
