Arsenal's midfield need to bounce back

Arsenal play Aston Villa tonight at the Emirates as they look to bounce back from a disappointing draw on Monday night.

Despite Alexandre Lacazette's last gasp equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace, there is an air of frustration around Arsenal at the moment surrounding Mikel Arteta's attacking structure.

Only Southampton, Burnley and Norwich City have scored fewer goals than the Gunners this season.

Digging a bit deeper, Arsenal are able to create shot taking actions frequently, ranking 5th with 111 shots in the Premier League so far. 31 of those have been on target, ranking 8th. However, it is with expected goals that the issues becomes clearer with Arsenal ranking joint 13th with 8.9 xG according to StatsBomb.

Arsenal are creating low percentage opportunities and have inconsistent finishers on the end of them.

One solution could be for Arteta to set up in a 4-4-2 with Lacazette and Aubameyang up top together in order to get another out and out goalscorer into the team. I discuss the idea of this here.

Despite Lacazette's impressive passion filled cameo against Crystal Palace, Arteta is not typically one to play two strikers and in the absence of Saka it is likely that a defensive minded midfield player will slot in alongside Partey.

Arsenal have lost their last three Premier League games against Aston Villa without scoring a single goal, and with the current issues surrounding the attack, the Gunners could be in for another troubling night.

Although the forwards are naturally under the microscope with Arsenal's struggling to score, it is the midfield which face the most question marks ahead of the game.

Crystal Palace's goals came from two Arsenal mistakes, one from Partey and one from Lokonga as both lost the ball resulting in the Gunners being outnumbered at the back.

Arsenal already had a tentative influence over the midfield battle on Monday night, and these mistakes only made the performances of Partey and Lokonga more concerning. How they bounce back will be crucial.

After his Monday's game, Lokonga said: "I want to play the next game as quick as possible. When you play a game like this, you are hungry inside because I made a mistake. I want to play the next game as quick as possible to change everything."

He is still young and learning, mistakes will happen, but now he has to make up for it and put in a good performance.

Ødegaard is perhaps fortunate that Saka may miss the game through injury. The Norwegian playmaker has been ineffectual in Arsenal's last two games, being hauled off just after the hour mark in both after failing to register a single key pass (pass leading to a shot).

With Arsenal finding it difficult to dominate the midfield or retain the ball up top, Ødegaard's ball retention is vital, even if he is unable to create goalscoring opportunities. Without his ball retention, Ødegaard has been a passenger.

Buendia, Luiz and McGinn represent a good test for the Arsenal midfield who will need to step up and bounce back.

Prediction:

Arsenal 1 - 1 Aston Villa

On Monday night, Arsenal rescued a 2-2 draw against Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace at the Emirates.

Substitute Alexandre Lacazette smashed the ball in after a scramble in the box as Arsenal battled back to salvage a point.

Arteta opted for an attacking lineup featuring Aubameyang, Pépé, Saka, Ødegaard and Smith Rowe in a 4-3-3.

The forward thinking mentality paid off with an early Arsenal goal. Pépé retrieved the second ball off a corner and worked a one-two with Tomiyasu before curling an effort on goal from outside the box. Guita made a good save but could only parry the ball as far as Aubameyang who volleyed home from a tight angle.

Despite the strong start, Arsenal curiously sat off of Crystal Palace, allowing them to take control of the game with the Gunners looking to hold their lead rather than push for a second goal.

From that point Arsenal looked unable to attack, relying on long balls to break out, only for Palace to continue attacking time after time.

Palace equalised 5 minutes after the break as Partey gave the ball away in Arsenal's third, allowing Benteke to bear down on goal and slot the ball cooly into the bottom corner out of Ramsdale's reach.

In the 73rd minute, the Eagles took the lead as Lokonga lost the ball resulting in a 3 on 2 counter attack. Palace worked the ball well, setting up Edouard who lashed the ball in off of the crossbar.

In the dying embers Arsenal pushed for their equaliser, causing chaos in the box from a corner as the ball fell to White who saw his shot blocked off the line. The ball fell kindly to Lacazette who smashed the ball in to snatch a point for the Gunners.

It was a sub par display from Arsenal who looked out of sorts for much of the night. Relinquishing control and allowing their midfield to be overrun time and time again made it impossible to launch promising attacks and Palace took advantage.

Aubameyang was Arsenal's most impressive player on the night, working hard to lead the press as well as grabbing the early goal.

It was a lesson of what not to do for Arsenal who have to improve and start picking up points if they want to be involved int he race for the European places.

Adam Perry - 22/10/2021