Nuno said his tactical adjustments were influenced by the opponent's lack of a genuine center forward

Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed his tactical adjustments were affected by the opponent's lack of a genuine centre-forward during Nottingham Forest's 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

Arsenal had just one shot on target in the entire match on Wednesday night, with coach Arteta deploying midfielder Mikel Merino as a striker.

Forest chose a four-back formation this time instead of the three-center-back system used in the previous home win over Brighton 7-0. This adjustment helped the team to keep a clean sheet, achieving their 11th clean sheet of the season.

"Arsenal don't have a natural striker, so when (Mikel) Merino comes in this position, we don't need an extra defender," Nuno explained after the game.

"They will have a numerical advantage in the midfield, so our focus will be on containing the midfield."

"Merino drops back and creates a local advantage in the midfield. Sometimes it might be (Ricardo) Calafiori going forward, but (Declan) Rice, (Martin) Odegaard and Merino will all be there. For our centre-backs, there is no clear target to mark."