Nottingham Forest have 500 reasons to be frustrated but still have cause for optimism after defeat

07:00, 19 Oct 2026Updated 07:14, 19 Oct 2026

Familiar problems and a familiar result meant Nottingham Forest ended the weekend in the Premier League relegation zone.

But if the Reds needed any evidence to support their belief the narrative will soon change, Sunday’s 1-0 reverse at home to Arsenal surely provided it. The goals and points will come; they must do, if Oliver Glasner’s side keep playing like this.

It is clear what the Forest head coach is trying to do - and there are signs the message is getting through. It is just that there is one big stumbling preventing good performances from translating into good results.

This was another game Glasner’s side should not have lost. It was a 0-0 draw up until the point where the reigning champions showed exactly why they hold that title, and even then the hosts could easily have rescued a point.

They didn’t and that is why they are where they are, in 18th place on the back of three straight defeats. There was enough about the Reds’ battling display against the Gunners to suggest the tide can turn, though.

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Forest have now gone more than 500 minutes without a goal in all competitions at the City Ground - a dismal total of 504 minutes in all. It is a frustrating run that stretches back to the final day of last term, when Morgan Gibbs-White found the net in the 34th minute against Bournemouth.

Since then, nothing. The intervention of VAR has had a hand in that but five home games without scoring is a poor way to kick off this season regardless.

According to Opta, Only four other clubs in English top flight history have failed to score in their first four home league fixtures of a season. West Bromwich Albion (1921/22), Everton (1998/99), Crystal Palace (2018/19) and Huddersfield Town (2018/19) are the others with that unenviable record, while this term Schalke are the only other team in Europe’s big five leagues without a goal in the league on their own turf.

Just as at Crystal Palace a week earlier, chances came and went on Sunday. Chris Wood squandered a big one at the death and Murillo was inches away from a goal of the season contender.

Unsurprisingly, the Reds didn’t see a great deal of the ball (having just 26% possession) but they were positive when they did get it. They put together some good passages of play and caused their visitors problems.

It is firmly in broken record territory to discuss Forest’s issues in front of goal, though. It is why, according to Who Scored, they are the biggest underperformers of xG (expected goals) in the division this season with -8.37.

Injury robbed the hosts of Gibbs-White against Mikel Arteta’s side, with Glasner keen not to take any risks over the playmaker. But Nicolas Dominguez came in and certainly grasped his opportunity. He was excellent.

“I wanted players with the best energy on the pitch, and Nico Dominguez always has energy,” Glasner explained. “He's always running and working hard for the team.”

From minute one, Dominguez didn’t stop. If anything, his departure in the 73rd minute hurt the Reds as it was an error by his replacement, Ibrahim Sangare, that resulted in Noni Madueke’s winner.

Nevertheless, Dominguez will have given Glasner food for thought. It would be harsh to drop the Argentine after that run-out but how does he fit in when Gibbs-White is back, as is expected to be the case this week?

Dominguez wasn’t the only impressive performer on Sunday. As strange as it may be for a side struggling for goals, Liam Delap also stood out.

“We judge strikers by the goals they score, but I think Liam had an incredible performance,” Glasner said. “He was playing against (Ezri) Konza and Gabriel, potentially the best centre-back pair in the world at the moment and caused them really big problems.”

Arsenal had just one effort on target during the whole 90 minutes at the City Ground - and it went in via a deflection off Jair Cunha. They mustered only nine shots in total, but still had an xG of 1.07 compared to the Reds’ 0.75 from 14 shots, illustrating the difference in the quality of chances created.

For the most part, the hosts restricted their opponents to very little. Forest were set up well and stuck to the task, aside from that one costly lapse in the 80th minute.

“We knew today we wouldn't score in the first 20 or 30 minutes,” Arteta said afterwards. “We were going to face a different Forest because they're extremely well coached.

“They put a Christmas tree (3-4-1-2) there. There's no space to play. You have to be so neat and tidy. You have to otherwise generate a lot of chaos in the box, whether it's in open play or with set-pieces.”

Matz Sels had been relatively untroubled prior to picking the ball out of the net. After what Glasner referred to as a “slapstick” goal in the 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, the Reds should take confidence from restricting the champions to so little on Sunday.

Three defeats in a row, by any measure, is not a great return. Five home games without a goal or a win is even worse.

There is no getting away from the fact Forest need results to change. They need to cut out mistakes at the back and find some quality up front.

And yet, there is cause for optimism and reason to believe this team are on the right track under Glasner. There has been progress over the last few games, even if the end result has been the same each time.

The points do need to come soon, though; for confidence and belief as much as anything else. Once it clicks, there is no reason why the Reds cannot build some momentum and push up the table.

Does it mean Friday’s trip to Ipswich Town is a must-win fixture? It is far too early for that kind of talk but there is no doubt three points on the road would be timely.