Our Arsenal week 35 match review covers Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at The City Ground. This result secured the Premier League title for Manchester City. The Gunners have one match remaining this season, at home against Wolves. Let’s discuss what happened in this game.

Arsenal Week 35 Match Review: The Positives

Arsenal Dominated Possession Against Nottingham Forest

There were few positives for Arsenal in this dour defeat against Nottingham Forest. However, the Gunners did dominate possession of the ball, finishing with 82% possession in the game. Much of this was due to Nottingham Forest’s strategy of hitting Arsenal on the counterattack, though. The disparity between the amount of possession Arsenal had and the amount of chances that they got on target demonstrates that dominating possession does not always matter in the match’s result.

Arsenal Week 35 Match Review: The Negatives

The Gunners Only Got Three Shots on Target

Arsenal may have dominated possession against Nottingham Forest, but they were ineffective in front of goal once again. The Gunners took 11 shots against Forest, but only got three of those shots on target. The Gunners’ attacking players struggled to finish their chances as Keylor Navas made a number of saves. This was another disappointing game for Arsenal’s attack and that lack of end product was the biggest factor in Arsenal’s loss against Forest.

Martin Odegaard’s Mistake Led to Nottingham Forest’s Goal

Martin Odegaard has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season, arguably the outright best. However, he made a critical error in the first half that directly led to Nottingham Forest scoring the only goal of the game. It is unfortunate to see Odegaard make a mistake like this. Odegaard has rarely made such mistakes, but he did in this game and it cost Arsenal dearly.

Arsenal’s Defense Failed to Handle Nottingham Forest’s Counterattack

Nottingham Forest chose to play a counter-attacking style of football against Arsenal. This contributed to the Gunners dominating possession, but it also caused problems for the Arsenal defense. Nottingham Forest created several good goal-scoring opportunities and could have easily won this game by more than a single goal.

Arsenal Week 35 Match Review: Arsenal Lost Because of Another Slow Start

The Gunners got off to a poor start, conceding a goal in less than 20 minutes. That slow start directly led to the defeat as Arsenal could not recover from the early Forest goal. Arsenal will have to get off to a much better start against Wolves in order to win the match and end the campaign on a positive note.

Manager Rating: 3/10 for Arteta

Once again, Arteta gets a 3/10 manager rating and deserves it. He failed to properly motivate the Arsenal squad and did not prepare them to handle Nottingham Forest’s counter-attacking style. His subs also did not contribute anything once again. Arteta has not gotten the best out of Arsenal in the past few matches, not by a long shot.

Arsenal Conclude Their Campaign By Hosting Wolves

The Gunners conclude their Premier League campaign by hosting Wolves at the Emirates Stadium. Wolves are already safe from relegation, so they have little motivation to avoid a defeat in this match. However, Arsenal cannot finish higher than second and have already secured Champions League football for next season. I would bet that the Gunners play with more motivation and win this match, perhaps simply because of the support of the home fans at the Emirates.

Check back next week for more Arsenal content.