Nottingham Forest head into their penultimate match of the season buoyed by the fact they’re facing an Arsenal side on their knees.
A frustrated Mikel Arteta apologised to the club’s supporters after a crushing 3-0 loss at home to Brighton all but ended their Premier League title hopes on Sunday.
Second-half goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan earned the Seagulls a deserved victory at the Emirates that means Manchester City need one more win from their final three games to defend their crown.
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City could be champions on Saturday night if Arsenal lose or even draw at the City Ground with the gap between the top two now four points, and Pep Guardiola’s side holding a hugely superior goal difference and game in hand on the Gunners, who have failed to win five of their last seven matches.
The Reds, meanwhile, would take a big step towards survival if they can prosper against Arsenal, depending on how rivals Leeds, Everton and Leicester fare at the weekend.
“A really different feeling to the feeling that we all had last Sunday (at Newcastle) when we felt proud and we felt that we really did what we needed to win in certain moments. Today is completely the opposite,” Arteta admitted.
“We have to apologise to our people, especially for the second half. What I have to accept first is what happened in the second half and digest it. After that, until it’s mathematically over… the second position is secure. That’s not going to change. We have to digest and that will take a few days.
“At the moment it’s just frustration. The feeling that we gave the game away in the second half. We fought really hard to be in the position that we are in and today we were in a critical moment to keeping hoping and digging for that dream.
“When you have to play in these moments you cannot do what we did in the second half. Then we have to look. If a team is capable of doing that when it comes to the biggest stage, there’s a lot of things to analyse and think about because it cannot happen.”
Manchester City’s 3-0 victory at Everton earlier in the day had ramped up the pressure on Arsenal but they started strongly despite losing Gabriel Martinelli to an ankle injury after 19 minutes.
A reflective Arteta added: “Obviously what the team has done over the last 10 months is very different to what anybody expected and that generates a lot of expectation as well enthusiasm, happiness and joy.
“That’s something that has to be managed in the right way and after we have the responsibility to make sure the team performs and I am responsible for that. So, I hate the feeling of letting people down when they are expecting something. That’s the biggest regret I have today and I have to apologise for that.”
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