Three Fixtures - The Many Faces Of Arsenal

Premier League matches have been coming thick and fast for Arsenal over the past week or so. As that all coincided with a hospital stay for Yours Truly, I'm a bit behind with my analysis. So what I thought I'd do is a bit of a 'compare and contrast' of the three matches in question; just to see if there are any worthwhile trends. Let's take a look:

So a 2-1 win at home to Wolves. A last gasp 4-3 win at Luton. And then defeat at Villa Park. All different, but with enough similarities, patterns and strokes of good or bad luck to consider. And then, of course, there's refereeing and VAR...

Here are a few points to consider:

• Why were the Luton and Villa fans booing every touch of the ball from Bukayo Saka? Makes no sense to me; he's one of the national side's best players. From a tactical viewpoint I'd say that whilst Starboy is yet to hit the consistent heights of some of last season his quick thinking, skill and strength have been making a real difference to the output of the team. Both he and Martinelli are purposed with driving infield from very wide, but Saka's output is stronger than that of Martinelli on the other wing at the moment. In such a structured formation as Arteta likes to play (the fluidity is infield, not wide), and with Jesus about, I'm not sure that Martinelli gets the chance to cause as much chaos as he'd like. Meanwhile, Saka's stats remain strong, and he surely has to be in your FPL team

• The return of Martin Odegaard has been extremely helpful. His link up play with Saka and whoever is at right back (such a shame to see Tomiyasu injured again) is key to the way the team functions. But look at the fine margins. He scores against Wolves from close to the penalty spot. Against Villa, he has one saved and pulls another wide from very similar positions. Margins

• Havertz and Trossard. Neither guaranteed a starting spot, but both capable of leaving a real mark on matches. I think that we're now starting to see what Arteta wanted to get out of the German, and that's three goals in 4 games. Waka waka. Trossard is also capable of doing damage at any given time; he gives a different look to the left wing when - as is happening more and more frequently - he replaces Martinelli late on in matches

• Gabriel Jesus. Yes, he doesn't score enough goals - even Richarlison appears to be outscoring him! - but I know who I'd rather have in my side. He helps create chaos in opposing defences, knits the attack together, and manoeuvres defenders around with his constant movement. A few more goals would be really helpful, however

• Late goals: Arsenal go right to the end. Once more, vital points were gained at the very death at Kenilworth Road. Arsenal are inevitable

 

And now a few negatives:

• The goalkeeping debate rumbles on. Just when we thought that Ramsdale's display against Brentford had put the matter to bed, Raya came up with a dreadful performance at Luton. Clearly at fault for two of their three goals. There's very little between the two of them as far as shot saving and claiming crosses are concerned (although other teams are seeing a genuine weakness from Raya from crosses and dead ball situations). However, Raya's distribution is definitely superior. Of course, the first job of a goalkeeper is to prevent goals! Arteta has made this mess, and he'll have to stick to his guns now. Until he can't any longer; and we certainly hope that it doesn't come to that

• Zinchenko; the Yin and the Yang. Such a cultured footballer. Comfortable on the ball, and essentially a midfielder playing at the back. Which means that, like Granit Xhaka before him, his mistakes can be easily punished. Against Wolves, he gave the ball away leading to their goal, and made the last 10 minutes of the game far less comfortable than they should have been. I wonder if Arteta is going to start phasing him out once Jurrien Timber returns? But in the meantime, with Tomiyasu out, he's going to start a lot of games, and we're going to have these thoughts of jeopardy every time he looks to dribble out from the back

• Ben White has not been at his best recently. Maybe he needs that run of games that was interrupted by the return of Tomiyasu. But he's been partly to blame for a couple of goals recently; not getting tight enough to his man

• PGMOL, the Premier League and the FA. It's becoming clearer and clearer to me that there's a a bias against Arsenal. Every game and weekend that passes throws up further evidence. Arteta's ban - booked for celebrating a 97th minute winner with his team in the tiny gap between dugout and side line on Tuesday. The behaviour of both Erling Haaland and his Manager:

Which of these deserves a yellow card, and which does not?

VAR failing to award a penalty for Douglas Luiz's mistimed kick out at Jesus on Saturday evening (Crystal Palace got a very similar one via VAR that morning). Havertz's goal being chalked off by an unsighted referee - worth mentioning that Mr Gillet is a self-confessed Liverpool fan btw - when the ball hit the defender's arm before it completely inadvertently hit Havertz's hand

That is a foul anywhere else on the pitch!

And the Law is an ass!

At the very least, Arsenal are not getting the rub of the green. However I'm genuinely coming to the conclusion that it's something more than that. We'll have to do it on our own, because we're getting no help from outside forces. Least of all the referees. Other clubs are, of course... look at Liverpool's luck on Saturday, for example. Or at Romero escaping a red card on Sunday.

And finally - and this is probably not significant, but you never know... Arsenal were unlucky not to leave Villa Park with at least a point. Whereas Manchester City - admittedly without Rodri - were completely outplayed there just three days prior. Whether this means anything, I do not know. But it just might, going forward...

Anyway, time for a load of rotation on Tuesday in Eindhoven. Followed by one of our bogey fixtures; Brighton at home. A change of fortune on that one is definitely required.

COYG!