Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League took a huge blow on Saturday evening when they drew 2-2 with Aston Villa.
The win over Spurs in midweek was forgotten about swiftly with Mikel Arteta’s men left to rue some missed opportunities and lapse defending.
That hasn’t been Arsenal in recent seasons. They’ve been incredibly tough to score against and they’ve scored goals regularly.
This isn’t any ordinary season though. From the moment Declan Rice received a red card against Brighton for ‘delaying the restart’, bad luck and obstacles have been an all too regular occurrence.
This doesn’t look like it’ll be Arsenal’s season, yet it’s difficult to pin things on Arteta.
There’s been red cards, there’s been injuries, there’s been obscene misfortune. Still, the Gunners need to play better football.
Where things went wrong for Arsenal against Aston Villa
One of the main problems facing Arteta’s men in recent weeks has been their ability to dominate yet still concede.
Against Tottenham, Arsenal had all of the ball in the opening quarter of the game but still found themselves behind.
Therefore, when the hosts went 2-0 up on Saturday, there was confidence in the air that the Gunners would get the job done. They did not.
Although Jurrien Timber performed admirably in the absence of the injured William Saliba, they really missed the Frenchman’s box presence. They also missed Timber’s astuteness at right-back.
It was a header from one of the smallest men on the pitch – Youri Tielemans – that got Villa back into things when a cross from Lucas Digne on the left was headed home.
It was another cross, this time from the right, that led to Ollie Watkins’ equaliser, peeling away at the back post and beating David Raya via the crossbar.
The defending wasn’t great but Arsenal could have done more to force things in the final third.
Leandro Trossard stood up when it mattered, assisting both of the Arsenal goals but he didn’t get much help from the traditional orchestrator in this team, Martin Odegaard.
The Norwegian was a notable underperformer this weekend, supplying just one key pass, not winning a duel and also losing possession 18 times.
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He wasn’t the worst in Arsenal colours though…
Arsenal’s worst performer against Aston Villa
While Odegaard should take criticism for not doing enough, blame must also be passed in the direction of Thomas Partey.
With Timber forced to play at centre-back, it meant Partey deputised as a right-back again. While his play in the build up was largely fine, actually providing more key passes (2) than Odegaard, his defending left plenty to be desired.
He was playing out of position but attracted criticism for his part in both Villa goals. A switch of the ball found Digne on the left and Partey could only dordle out towards him and didn’t close him down adequately. The ball ended up being inch-perfect for Tielemans.
His marking for the Villa second goal in which Watkins found the net was then described as “schoolboy-level” by Arsenal reporter Oli Price Bates.
The Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid gave a more scathing assessment of the Ghanaian’s display, suggesting it was “abysmal”. It was hardly a surprise given those reviews that he earned such a low 4/10 match rating from the Express.
Minutes played
90
Touches
87
Accurate passes
55/68 (81%)
Key passes
2
Accurate crosses
0
Ground duels won
4/5
Aerial duels won
4/4
Interceptions
1
Tackles
1
Fouls
1
Possession lost
18x
His overall numbers suggested that was the case too, losing possession on 18 occasions and only attempting one cross from his right-back role.
He only made one tackle, one interception and was adjudged to have made an error that led to a shot. This wasn’t his finest night at the office and you can perhaps understand why given he was out of position.
That said, it’s an experiment Arteta needs to give up with. Providing Saliba is fit for their next Premier League outing then Partey must be given the boot from the starting XI.
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