Arsenal destabilised by defensive accidents as Mikel Arteta struggles to match set-piece risk from open play

Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday left Mikel Arteta with a well-recognized feeling of frustration. It was the seventh time they’ve dropped factors in 15 Premier League video games this time period. They’re six factors worse off than on the similar stage of final season.

It was significantly robust to take given his facet’s dominance. “We deserved to win from the beginning to the end,” Arteta stated. Fulham scored from one in every of solely two pictures. Their whole of three touches within the opposition field was the bottom within the Premier League all season.

Arsenal, in the meantime, had 66 per cent of the possession and created possibilities price greater than two anticipated targets however have been unable so as to add to William Saliba’s close-range equaliser, with Bukayo Saka’s late header dominated out by VAR for offside in opposition to Gabriel Martinelli.

Finally, the failure so as to add a second meant Arsenal missed the prospect to maneuver inside 4 factors of Liverpool. The end result additionally highlighted a few of their points this season.

Defensive accidents and instability

A settled defence was the bedrock of Arsenal’s title problem final time period. William Saliba performed each minute. There was some disruption at left-back however Saliba’s centre-back associate Gabriel Magalhaes solely missed two video games. Proper-back Ben White solely missed one.

This season has been totally different. The draw at Craven Cottage was the third Premier League recreation out of the final seven during which Arsenal have not had their first-choice centre-back pairing, with Saliba having beforehand served a suspension and Gabriel nursing accidents.

The problems have been much more pronounced at full-back. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s newest damage noticed him re-join Riccardo Calafiori, White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the sidelines in opposition to Fulham. Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly have additionally missed video games.

Zinchenko’s absence meant a reshuffle on Sunday, with Thomas Partey transferring to right-back and Timber switching to left-back. Along with centre-backs Saliba and Jakub Kiwior, they fashioned Arsenal’s ninth again 4 in 15 Premier League video games this season.

It’s greater than they fielded in 38 video games final season.

Arsenal’s makeshift backline was largely untroubled by Fulham. However the affect of their defensive accidents could possibly be seen for the opening aim, when Kiwior, most likely Arteta’s seventh-choice centre-back when everyone seems to be match, was simply outmanoeuvred by Raul Jimenez.

Arteta doubtless had the second in thoughts when he referred to the “small margins” of the Premier League after the sport.

The upheaval at full-back has been detrimental offensively too.

In opposition to Fulham, for instance, with a proper footer at left-back and a pure central midfielder at right-back, Arsenal have been by no means prone to carry their normal risk out vast and so it proved.

Bukayo Saka was comparatively quiet nevertheless it was largely right down to an absence of assist, with Second Spectrum monitoring knowledge exhibiting Partey solely made one overlapping run all recreation. It was the identical on the opposite facet, the place Timber solely supplied his winger one overlapping run.

These runs on the surface are invaluable in dragging defenders away from wingers however they aren’t part of Partey’s recreation and they’re awkward for the right-footed Timber when enjoying on the left too. That in the end hampered Arsenal’s attacking risk and made it simpler for Fulham to defend their flanks successfully.

Open-play creativity missing?

Sunday’s recreation was simply the newest during which Arsenal have proven their big risk from set-pieces. Saliba’s equaliser was their twenty third aim from a nook because the begin of final season and the Gunners missed a number of different scoring alternatives from dead-ball conditions.

However Arteta outlined his willpower to be “kings of everything”, not simply corners, in his pre-match press convention and the numbers recommend they’re missing in different areas.

Arsenal created a modest 0.47 in non-corner anticipated targets in opposition to Fulham and their quantity was solely marginally greater in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United.

It did not matter in opposition to Ruben Amorim’s facet, with Arsenal in a position to rating twice from corners with out reply. Arteta would additionally argue that the 2 elements are linked given the corners and free-kicks required for set-piece possibilities come up from open-play dominance.

Nonetheless, although, the numbers have triggered some alarm amongst followers. Arsenal are the Premier League’s handiest group relating to producing scoring possibilities from set-pieces however they rank within the backside half this season for anticipated targets from open play.

It’s not the place they need to be, however context is necessary. Along with the defensive accidents which have impacted their rhythm, Arsenal have needed to cope with out their most important creator in Martin Odegaard for roughly half of their Premier League video games resulting from damage.

Their fluency suffered with out him and their total numbers are additionally skewed by lengthy durations enjoying with 10 males in opposition to Brighton, Manchester Metropolis and Bournemouth earlier this season.

Arsenal’s squad does look mild in assault, particularly as Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling battle to make a constructive affect. However Arsenal scored a club-record variety of targets final season and Arteta will hope a clearer damage checklist permits them to get again to that degree.

The priority is that with Liverpool and Chelsea accumulating factors at their present charges, any additional slip-ups within the meantime will depart them with an excessive amount of floor to make up.

No let-up in schedule

An easing of Arsenal’s damage issues isn’t assured both. In truth, their schedule heightens the danger of additional setbacks, with the Gunners about to embark on a run of 4 video games in 11 days, beginning with Wednesday’s Champions League conflict in opposition to Monaco.

An inevitable knock-on impact of accidents is that others are required to play extra minutes than deliberate. Timber, for instance, has began 10 consecutive video games and the dearth of accessible alternate options means his run is prone to proceed. It’s a heavy workload for a participant who solely returned from a critical knee damage in the summertime.

Rotation will likely be required, the place attainable, as Arsenal juggle their Champions League and Premier League commitments, plus a Carabao Cup quarter-final in opposition to Crystal Palace subsequent week. However the want for silverware is such that no competitors may be taken frivolously.

If there’s one constructive, it’s that their upcoming fixture checklist appears kinder, by way of opponents if not in quantity of video games, than within the opening months of the marketing campaign. Arsenal received quite a lot of their hardest video games out of the way in which throughout that interval.

They don’t face any of the present high six of their subsequent 5 Premier League video games. Their January journeys to Brentford and Brighton is not going to be straightforward however their subsequent away recreation in opposition to a top-six facet isn’t till they go to fifth-placed Nottingham Forest on February 25.

Arteta will hope that, by then, Arsenal are nearer to the Premier League summit, quite than additional away. However a lot will rely on the gamers they’ve obtainable. Sunday’s draw with Fulham was a reminder that there’s little margin for error.