Winners
Manchester City
Manchester City are crowned Premier League champions for yet another time. Arsenal’s defeat at Nottingham Forest confirmed the title would remain once again in the blue half of Manchester.
The game highlighted exactly what Arsenal were missing and with several starters like Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko out, the lack of strength in depth was shown today, just like it has in comparison to the Citizens all season.
The blueprint is there and the plan should already be ready to deploy when attacking the summer window. Man City meanwhile will celebrate another win as they look ahead to a potential treble-winning year.
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Nottingham Forest
After losing 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium earlier in the season, few saw a result going the way of the relegation battlers but that is exactly what happened. Barring a huge swing in goal difference, the result means that Forest are safe with still a game to spare.
They will be a challenge again Arsenal will look to overcome next season. It will be interesting to see how both clubs end up spending with the money shown to be available by both in the recent transfer windows.
Kieran Tierney
Mikel Arteta’s experiment to try Thomas Partey at right-back and Jakub Kiwior at left-back did not work. The whole side looked unbalanced with such a focus for Arsenal on the right-hand side. Kieran Tierney found himself dropped yet again after the disappointment against Brighton.
He came on in the second half and despite the Gunners still struggling to come up with any chances of note they did look more threatening. The Scot gave a good account of himself to Newcastle United and company who will certainly be looking to sign him in the summer.
Losers
Thomas Partey & Jakub Kiwior
For the trip to the East Midlands Mikel Arteta changed up the eleven and played Partey at right back. The Ghanaian’s presence was effectively to flip the inverted role of the full-back with Kiwior acting like Ben White on the left.
However, what this did was completely unbalance the structure with a huge proportion of the attacks coming then through the right-hand side.
Forest defended deep and doubled up, limiting Arsenal from creating as they usually would. Ultimately it didn’t work and they couldn’t sneak through.
Gabriel Jesus
Chance after chance befell the striker but Jesus simply couldn’t find the space to get off a meaningful strike. It was a performance that perhaps suited a more physical forward so that the Gunners had a chance with some more direct play but ultimately they were left wanting.
Whether Arsenal look to bring in a striker in the summer remains to be seen. Based on today, it definitely seems like they need something different in these fixtures.
Mikel Arteta
The Arsenal manager said before that his side wanted to win despite the tiny chance that remained of the title. However, his side ultimately have left their charge with a whimper.
Yes, their rivals are a force of nature in the game but it almost felt like watching a different side these past few weeks and more. Arteta knows the needs of the team this summer and the hope will be they can deliver the goods in the window as fans are left very much wanting more as opposed to celebrating Champions League qualification.
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