At the current point, Nuno Espirito Santo's team hold the third consecutive away defeat of the Premier League season which sits them three points above Newcastle United as Champions League qualification doubts emerge.
Yet the Garibaldi maintain their City Ground devotion because their February 1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion with 7 goals resulted in seven matches without defeat and six wins while the City Ground remained goal-scoring territory.
The Tricky Trees experienced a complete 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in November which marked their third consecutive victory against their Gunner rivals while a fourth win may become essential for maintaining title aspirations after this defeat.
The decision to start Merino against West Ham proved unsuccessful which leaves Arteta without many choices except to recall struggling Raheem Sterling before Nwaneri suffered his injury.
The Arsenal manager has occasionally chosen a back three defense early this season yet the ex-Tottenham coach could find success by following the defensive approach used by Graham Potter.
Myles Lewis-Skelly received a record-breaking red card in the second half after replacing others following the substantive infringement of denying Mohammed Kudus.
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.
The decision to not reinforce the squad during the winter transfer window could prove costly, as the team’s depth and attacking options are now under severe scrutiny.
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. However, the last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches, the first defeat in that sequence also came at home to West Ham.
This historical parallel will undoubtedly weigh heavily on the minds of fans and players alike, as they look to avoid a similar slump in form during the crucial final stretch of the season.
Despite the lack of goalmouth action at the Emirates, St James' Park hosted a seven-goal extravaganza over the weekend, and Nottingham Forest's late comeback was unable to reverse the damage caused by an 11-minute first-half surrender.
Ryan Yates and Nikola Milenkovic made things extremely difficult by exposing Newcastle's set-piece limitations in the last half-hour, following Callum Hudson-Odoi's first goal and an incredible quadruple of Magpies goals from Alexander Isak (2), Lewis Miley, and Jacob Murphy.
