And with that, is Arsenal‘s Premier League title challenge done and dusted? It’s a sentence you’d expect to be writing next April or May, not ahead of the third international break of the season in November.
Sadly, truth be told, the Gunners look out of it. Is that hyperbole considering the time of the season we’re in? Quite possibly.
However, the league table does not lie. Arsenal are four points behind Manchester City but more importantly, are nine behind pace-setters Liverpool.
This wasn’t in the script, was it? The Reds were meant to struggle post-Jurgen Klopp but Arne Slot has engineered the Anfield side into the league’s best so far this term.
City are in a mini-crisis and the Gunners are stalling, stuttering, panting through games like the old family dog who can’t get off the sofa.
They have failed to win a single league fixture since the last international break, losing to Bournemouth and Newcastle, while drawing with Liverpool and Chelsea. Those final two results are fine. The other two are what will really cost Arsenal come the end of the season.
So, how did it unravel this time?
Arsenal’s best performers against Chelsea
If there was one positive to take from the game on Sunday evening then it was the performance of Martin Odegaard.
The club captain has been missing since the first international break of the season with an ankle injury but returned from the sub’s bench against Inter in the Champions League in midweek.
He was back in the starting lineup over the weekend and played all 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, a game where he was undoubtedly their best performer.
How they have missed him. No one opens doors quite like him in this Arsenal side. He is their most creative and he proved as such at Stamford Bridge with his four key passes more than the superlative Cole Palmer and more than anyone on the field.
It was his magical assist that led to the visitors’ opener, lofting the ball over the Chelsea defence from out of nowhere. Gabriel Martinelli – who looked the most likely to score of any player on the pitch – duly did find the back of the net, picking up Odegaard’s pass and beating Robert Sanchez at his near post.
Not much could be done about Pedro Neto’s equaliser from the edge of the box but Arsenal did at least look more threatening in the final third.
On another day they would have won it. Kai Havertz had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half following Declan Rice’s smart free-kick which was a huge shame for the travelling support.
Havertz was also at the centre of a late chance that may well have just cost Arsenal’s title chances.
The moment that cost Arsenal big time against Chelsea
Against Newcastle last weekend Mikel Arteta’s side looked bereft of ideas, they looked toothless and failed to really create many goalscoring opportunities at all.
The same could be said of their midweek display in Milan where they were better but their chance creation amounted to a succession of crosses – a whopping 46 in total – that ultimately came to nothing.
Against Chelsea it wasn’t quite that bad, they did at least create clearer openings. That was largely thanks to Odegaard.
That said it was William Saliba who provided a late moment when Arsenal could have won the game. In fact, it was the match’s very last kick of the ball before referee Michael Oliver blew for full-time.
Saliba found himself on the left of the penalty area and slid a ball across the box. Havertz was waiting, Havertz was about to tap the ball into an empty net to win the game. Yet, enter Leandro Trossard, a man who has already cost the Londoners on plenty of occasions this term.
He slid in ahead of Havertz and clipped the ball just wide of the post. That was the moment but it went begging.
Trossard cameo vs Chelsea | |
|---|---|
Minutes played | 19 |
Touches | 12 |
Accurate passes | 5/7 (71%) |
Key passes | 1 |
Crosses | 0/1 |
Shots | 2 |
Dribble success | 1/1 |
Big chances missed | 1 |
Duels won | 1/1 |
Expected Goals (xG) | 0.03 |
Stats via Sofascore. | |
That might be quite harsh on the Belgian but he hasn’t done too much right this season, notably being the one who was sent off in the 2-2 draw at the Etihad and the man whose terrible pass led to Saliba’s red card against Bournemouth.
Trossard – who picked up a 5/10 rating courtesy of GOAL and registered fewer touches than goalkeeper David Raya – did threaten when he came off the bench on this occasion but it was another poor afternoon for the winger. With Martinelli having been Arsenal’s goalscorer, he will now have to settle for a regular spot on the bench.
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