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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told his players to “step up” after their Premier League season continued to fizzle out with a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal issues, Arne Slot focus, nervy finish - Liverpool Premier League title verdict given	Arne Slot insists Liverpool will 'forget about the Premier League' and focus on PSG now after 2-0 Newcastle win puts them 13 points clear of Arsenal	Mikel Arteta issues defiant four-word title message - with Arsenal 11 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool

Arteta said ahead of kick off that his side would concede the title “over my dead body” but he may have to accept that their challenge has died a death after this stalemate, which came four days after a home defeat to West Ham.

The toothless Gunners, playing without a recognised striker, managed just one shot on target at the City Ground, with Riccardo Calafiori also hitting the post in the first half.

They are now 13 points behind champions-elect Liverpool and with a severe lack of attacking options, it would take some turnaround for them to leapfrog Arne Slot’s relentless side.

(Action Images via Reuters)

Arteta now appears to be targeting the Champions League, where they play PSV in the last-16 first leg on Tuesday.

The Spaniard said: “Very disappointed not to win it.

Today the standards were very different to the previous game.

Today we dropped two points which is very painful again and we have to step up.

“We have the Champions League, we have a beautiful competition in front of us and we need to be ready for Tuesday.”

With Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz all in the treatment room, Arteta’s attacking options are limited.

(Nick Potts/PA Wire)

And that was evident at the City Ground where they never really looked like scoring.

“We try and adapt to the qualities they have, how we can help the team to create different things, to have threats from different qualities,” Arteta said.

“It’s a lot to play for and we need to find a solution to unlock it.”

Forest’s surprise challenge for Champions League qualification has hit the buffers with just one win from their last five and they appear to be running out of steam, with Manchester City and Chelsea breathing down their necks.

But this was a good response to the 4-3 defeat at Newcastle and boss Nuno Espirito Santo said the result meant they were “finding themselves as a team again”.

“The most important thing was to realise how we do things, how we play and our strengths.

Arsenal had chances, of course, because they are a very good team.

The positive is the clean sheet and, more than anything, finding ourselves as a team again with the way we do things.

“In the last moments of the game, we were the team getting the set-pieces and the dangerous momentum.
For more news relating to Manchester City, visit our sister site City Latest Live.