Man City Cannot Score: 21 Shots, Zero Goals, and Forest Tonight Could Hand Arsenal a Six Point Lead

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Manchester City arrive at the City Ground tonight with a problem nobody expected a month ago. The champions cannot score. They lost 1-0 at Brighton last weekend despite taking 21 shots, and that followed a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. Two league defeats in a row, one goal scored across them, and a title race that suddenly looks very different from the procession it was in October.

Forest host City at 17:30 London time, and the stakes are plain. If City lose again, and Arsenal beat Hull City at home in the 15:00 kickoff, Arsenal will be six points clear at the top. City were seven wins from seven at the start of the season. They are now a team chasing the leaders, not setting the pace.

What has gone wrong with City's attack?

The Brighton game is the one that should worry City fans most, because the numbers say they did almost everything except the part that matters. Twenty one attempts, no goal. Brighton scored through Ayari in the 11th minute and then held on, and City never found a way through.

That is now two league games without a win and only one goal in them, after the 2-1 loss at Villa. The goals have dried up at exactly the wrong moment, with Arsenal winning 1-0 at Anfield last Sunday and opening a three point gap at the top.

City did win in midweek, beating RB Leipzig 3-2 in the Champions League on Wednesday, which stopped the rot in Europe. But the league is the competition that decides the season, and in the league City have now lost twice in a row for the first time this season.

The Forest game is a trap in the classic sense. Forest are at home, in the evening kickoff, against a team that has just lost twice and is short on confidence in front of goal. City are still second on 21 points, three behind Arsenal, and a win tonight puts them right back in the race. A defeat leaves them six behind the leaders with the international break coming, which is a long two weeks to sit on a bad result.

Can Arsenal go six points clear?

Arsenal host Hull City at the Emirates at 15:00 London time, and on paper it is the most winnable game of the weekend for a title challenger. Arsenal are top on 24 points from nine games, with eight wins, and they have just beaten Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, their first league win there in 14 years.

Kai Havertz scored the only goal at Anfield in the 16th minute, and Arsenal held on. That result, plus City's defeat at Brighton, is what opened the three point gap. A win over Hull takes Arsenal to 27 points. If City then lose at Forest, the gap is six.

Hull are the kind of opponent Arsenal are expected to beat at home, and the danger for Arsenal is not the opponent but the occasion. This is the first time this season they have had a real lead to protect, and the first time the chasing pack has looked vulnerable. The teams that win titles are the ones that take these points without drama.

Arsenal are also managing injuries. Saka is out until December with a thigh injury, Saliba is out with a back problem until after the international break, and there are doubts over Rice, Madueke and Calafiori. Even so, the squad that won at Anfield is good enough to beat Hull at home, and anything less would be a surprise.

What else happens on Saturday?

The day starts at Elland Road, where Leeds United host Tottenham at 12:30 London time. Tottenham arrive on a three match winning run in the league, beating Coventry 3-1, Chelsea 2-0 and Crystal Palace 2-0, and they sit ninth on 12 points. Leeds at home in the early kickoff is never easy, and Spurs will want to keep the run going into the break.

At 15:00, alongside Arsenal against Hull, Fulham host Newcastle at Craven Cottage. Newcastle are the visitors in a game both sides need, with the table tightening in midfield and the break coming after this weekend.

Then comes the evening game, Forest against City at 17:30, which is the match of the day. It is live on NBC in the United States, and it is the game that decides whether Arsenal go into the break three points clear or six.

What happens on Sunday?

Sunday has four games, and the biggest is Manchester United against Aston Villa. United beat Roma 3-2 on Tuesday to end a nine game winless run in all competitions, with Cunha scoring twice late, but they sit just above the relegation zone on seven points, and Villa are the team that beat City 2-1 last weekend.

This is the last test for Michael Carrick's side before the international break, and the break is the point at which the board is expected to decide his future. A win over Villa would change the mood completely. A defeat would send United into the break still in crisis, with the same questions asked louder.

The other Sunday games are Brighton against Brentford, Crystal Palace against Liverpool, and Sunderland against Chelsea. Liverpool travel to Palace after losing at Fenerbahce in the Champions League in midweek, and Chelsea visit Sunderland after beating Manchester United 2-0 last Saturday.

After Sunday, the Premier League stops for the November international break, and does not return until Saturday 21 November. That makes this weekend the last chance for every struggling team to change its story before the pause.

Did Everton really win again without Grealish?

Yes, and that is becoming one of the stories of the season. Everton beat Coventry City 3-1 at home on Friday night, coming from behind after Gboho opened the scoring in the 52nd minute. Thierno Barry scored twice in five minutes, in the 56th and 61st minutes, and Dewsbury-Hall added a third in the 81st minute.

It is Everton's third straight win, and all three have come without Jack Grealish. The winger has not played since the defeat by Chelsea on 17 October, and he missed a fourth straight game on Friday after a breach of club discipline and a missed training session.

Grealish was back at Finch Farm on Friday on a tailored programme, and he is likely to return after the international break, with the visit to Brentford on 23 November the earliest possible return. He has made eight appearances this season with no goals or assists, and his contract at Manchester City expires at the end of the season.

Barry now has 10 goals in 13 appearances this season, and he leads an Everton attack that looks better without its most famous player than with him. That is an awkward fact for everyone involved, and it is one Moyes will have to manage when Grealish returns.

The win also lifts Everton into the top five, and it was David Moyes' 592nd game in charge of Everton, equalling the record of Harry Catterick. Moyes has rebuilt this team quickly, and doing it without Grealish makes the achievement harder to argue with.

What is the latest on the Nigeria FIFA case?

There is no new confirmed development. Nigeria's football federation has filed a formal complaint with FIFA alleging DR Congo fielded ineligible players in the African World Cup play-off final, and the Nigeria sports commission chairman has said publicly that the case is strong. FIFA has still not publicly confirmed an investigation, and has still not issued a statement about the complaint.

The reporting splits on this point. The BBC reported on 5 November that it had contacted FIFA and was waiting to hear back. Pulse, a Nigerian outlet, reports that FIFA has opened an investigation. An official of the Nigeria Football Federation told ESPN that FIFA is investigating and is expected to decide before the intercontinental play-offs in March.

Until FIFA speaks, the honest position is that the case is filed, DR Congo have rejected it outright, and no decision has been announced. Nigeria want the March play-off place that DR Congo won on penalties in Rabat. That decision, whenever it comes, is expected before March.

The Vinicius Jr and Sadie Sink story is also unchanged. Foot Mercato reported on 2 November that Vinicius Jr invited the Stranger Things actress to a VIP box at the Bernabeu and she declined. Neither Vinicius nor Sink has confirmed anything, and there is no new confirmation to add today. It remains a reported claim, not a fact.

Why does this weekend matter so much?

Because it is the last weekend before the break, and the table after Sunday is the table every club lives with for two weeks. Arsenal can go six clear. City can fall six behind. United can either steady themselves or go into the break in crisis. Everton have already shown what a good weekend looks like, winning without their star player and climbing into the top five.

The international break freezes everything. The teams that win this weekend get two weeks of good headlines. The teams that lose get two weeks of questions. That is why Forest against City tonight is not just another game. It is the game that decides how the title race looks when football stops.

Related live posts: Did Nigeria's Coach Really Accuse DR Congo of Voodoo? The FIFA Fraud Claim, the Clearance Row and Grealish Out Again (https://www.ofthepitch.com/nigeria-chelle-voodoo-fifa-fraud-claim-grealish-out-coventry), and Arsenal End 14 Year Anfield Wait and Go Three Clear: Matchday 9 Table, Havertz Record and Carrick Gets Two More Games (https://www.ofthepitch.com/arsenal-end-anfield-wait-go-three-clear-matchday-9-carrick-roma).

Sources: TNT Sports, Premier League Gameweek 10 talking points, 6 November 2026; NBC Sports, Premier League schedule and results, 7 November 2026; BBC, Nigeria FIFA complaint, 5 November 2026; ESPN Africa, Chelle voodoo accusation; TEAMtalk, Grealish disciplinary breach, 4 November 2026.