Arsenal has continued to struggle in the Premier League after scoring just one goal in the last five domestic encounters. They could be facing an injury crisis after Bukayo Saka was forced off with a knee injury.
Gunners also suffered a further blow with Willian too, who also sustained an injury during the encounter at Elland Road. The extent of their injuries and that of Thomas Partey is yet to be known.
In contrast, Arsenal is having a smooth sail in the Europa League having won all their games played so far. The last one was a convincing 4-1 win over Molde. Thursday’s meeting between both sides could offer Mikel Arteta‘s men the opportunity to create chances and seal their qualification for the next round of the tournament while they shift their concentration to the Premier League.
🗞 The boss has given us an update…#LEEARS
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 22, 2020
Nicolas Pepe, who got the first red card of his career at Elland Road is expected to be given a start. The Ivorian was sent off for a headbutt in a game the Gunners would have lost, if not for Leeds’ wasteful finishing.
Aubameyan’g draught also continued, but his 60th-minute effort was their first of two shots on target. The last time they scored was at Old Trafford which the skipper converted a penalty that gave Arsenal maximum points.
So, playing a Premier League game in one month without a goal calls for questions.
Arsenal currently occupies the bottom half of the table, moving up to 11th, two points above Leeds in 14th.
Big concerns lie ahead for misfiring Arsenal in the Premier League
There is a big concern for Arsenal with the rate of their performance in the Premier League.
Arteta during his post-match interview called on the players to return with the good vibes that helped them win the FA Cup and started this season with three wins in all competitions. This is starting to feel like a distant memory.
Having solidified the defense, Arteta is struggling to get Arsenal creating more chances in the Premier League like they used to, in contrast to their current Europa League form.
Nine goals in nine games is a very low figure for a club of magnitude like Arsenal. That is their lowest tally at this stage since 1986-87. Most of the responsibilities have been placed on Aubameyang, who appears to be struggling at the moment.
Here comes the question, who are those scoring in the Europa League? What stops them from repeating the same performance in the Premier League? Once these questions are answered, then Arteta is on his way to solving the problem.
Despite playing him as the main striker, Aubameyang failed to sparkle as Alexandre Lacazette was left on the bench.
Without chances being created, goals won’t come. That is the current situation Arsenal is struggling with. They failed to create many clear-cut chances.
What made things worse was the training ground bust-up between the only playmaker in the team at the moment, Dani Ceballos. The Spaniard was involved in a spat up with David Luis, having allegedly bullied Eddie Nketiah sometimes ago. Is the team not unified? The Real Madrid loanee must be allowed to concentrate as the workload on him requires creating goalscoring opportunities- which Arsenal has been lacking.
It got worse that it took an hour for Arsenal to test Illan Meslier through Aubameyang. His only other save was to deny substitute Bukayo Saka late on.
It is high time Arteta fill in those missing links and get results before huge pressures start mounting on him.
However, it was a huge positive for them to hold on for a point after being one man down for over 40 minutes.
Now that Arteta has made Arsenal a team to beat defensively, it is now time to get them firing from all cylinders.
