What Mikel Arteta needs to do before Arsenal vs Notingham Forest to fix bad habit

Arsenal need to leap out of the gates when they lock horns with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal appear to be developing a bad habit that could spiral out of control if it's not addressed appropriately, so Mikel Arteta may need to rethink his pre-match team talk ahead of this weekend's clash against Nottingham Forrest.

Excluding the third round of the Carabao Cup, when the Gunners bulldozed past Ipswich Town at Portman Road, they've failed to score in the first half of each of their last five games across all competitions.

Arteta's side proved that they're more than capable of finding the net in the early stages of a match when they came from behind to defeat Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium back in September.

Even then, Arsenal had little choice but to up the ante so soon, having conceded in quite literally the opening couple of minutes. The Gunners have since failed to score in the first half of a competition not named the Carabao Cup.

Although Arteta's side managed to win four of the five games, defeating Napoli and Lille in the Champions League, as well as Sunderland and Leeds in the Premier League, Brighton exposed a weak spot when they ran riot at the Amex Stadium just before the international break.

Interestingly, in each of the last two matches, Arsenal also scored shortly after the break, just before the Spaniard would usually make a couple, maybe even three, much-needed substitutions to breathe new life into the starting lineup.

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Ironically, one of those early second-half arrivals has also found the net in each of the last two games. Of course, Arteta has one of the strongest squads at his disposal, giving him the luxury of making wholesale quality changes at will, but he clearly knows how to rally his troops at the break.

Arsenal have had a tendency to start rather slowly lately, and the Spaniard must not ignore the pattern evolving before his eyes. Just like on the south coast, when the Seagulls swarmed, the Gunners could be caught short again.

Whether it's against Bayern Munich in the Champions League or against Fleetwood Town in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, Arsenal need to smell the coffee.

If the slow starts are not at least acknowledged, or perhaps treated, they could one day cost the Gunners a piece of silverware. If Arteta can send out his starting lineup with the same venom as he does after the break, it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Forest at the City Ground last season, so they must put their foot to the metal. Perhaps Arteta needs to give his players the hair dryer treatment sooner rather than later...