8 Key Reasons Arsenal Might Fall Short in the Premier League Title Race — Including Arteta and Gyokeres
With five Premier League victories and one tie since their 1-0 loss to Liverpool, the Gunners are currently leading the league, while Arne Slot’s team and Manchester City appear to be a ghost of their former selves.
Arsenal has the most complete roster, the most goals from set-pieces (11, two more than any other team), and they are leading almost every defensive category, thus there is now no serious discussion regarding who is the best team in the Premier League.
With AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland in the top four, a wave of manager sackings, Liverpool’s decline, and Manchester United’s comeback, the Premier League has sunk into turmoil.
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In the midst of chaos, Arsenal stands out as the only reliable team, and they have the potential to completely ruin the title battle.
However, Bournemouth, Sunderland, and others have hope that the Gunners’ victory in the Premier League might not be a formality, as these eight factors point to a possible cock-up that will undoubtedly occur. Do we think so? Do we have balls?
Victor Gyokeres
Arsenal was forced to regret not acquiring a new striker during the final stretch of the previous season due to injuries and the poor performance of their attackers.
Arteta was left without a recognised forward due to the unavailability of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz.
Although Mikel Merino performed admirably as a stand-in, Arsenal’s summer transfer priority was always going to be acquiring a new striker, and they ultimately chose Gyokeres over Benjamin Sesko.
Gyokeres has followed in the footsteps of Arsenal’s “flat-track bully,” who scored at an absurd rate during his two years at Sporting Lisbon.
However, elite players in Portugal seldom achieve such heights in the Premier League.
The Swedish international has been unproductive against Big Six opponents, but he has scored ugly goals against weak Premier League opponents, which will be useful.
Since Arteta’s top Premier League scorer has only three goals from nine games—a far cry from the standards set by Erling Haaland, the goal-shy forward has hardly been the clinical finisher that Arsenal has long yearned for.
An excessive dependence on set pieces
As previously stated, Arsenal is excellent in these areas and has worked hard to develop these facets of their game, but their seeming disdain for other factors may cause problems later on.
As of right now, opponents have been unable to match Arsenal’s tried-and-true winning formula, which appears certain to propel them to the championship, therefore Arteta’s choice to fully commit to set pieces and defensive solidarity has been entirely justified.
However, it wouldn’t hurt them to have a more varied style of play to cover themselves against a particularly formidable defence and in the event that injuries recur.
More Big Chances have been produced by Leeds United and Brentford
When it comes to their defensive and goalkeeping metrics, Arsenal is unbeatable, but they do have problems going forward.
First off, Mikel Arteta’s team has only generated 15 Opta-defined Big Chances in the Premier League this season, which is 10 fewer than first-place Man-City and 9 fewer than second-place Liverpool.
They are also behind Brentford and Leeds United, two teams in danger of relegation.
Eberechi-Eze’s summer transfer was supposed to help the Gunners with this long-term problem, but in his first eight Premier League games, he has only produced four opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, Bukayo S-aka and Declan-Rice are still far ahead as Arsenal’s greatest opportunity engineers, while Martin-Odegaard just has three due to his injury struggles.
“Dealing with” the stress
“Now that they’re at the top of the table, how are they going to handle that is the test for them, as I’m sure many people will say.”
Although it seems familiar, former Liverpool and Manchester City goalkeeper David James is frantically trying to explain why Arsenal won’t “win the Premier League title” this season.
However, there is some merit to this specific argument. For a variety of reasons, including injuries, a lack of a killer instinct, and just not being talented enough to unseat Man City, Arsenal has failed in important competitions under Arteta.
However, they have also failed to maintain composure in a championship race, as evidenced by the points they have lost at crucial junctures.
Until they win the Premier League or Champions League, there will be uncertainty, but with Liverpool and Manchester City trailing behind this season, there will probably be more room for mistake.
An excessive dependence on Key players
Given that they spent over £250 million less than Liverpool and still have a stronger team with excellent choices at every position, Arsenal’s summer business clearly looks better than Liverpool’s.
Although they are still too dependent on a small number of players, Arsenal has plenty of talent on the bench to switch games, unlike prior seasons.
While Rice and Saka’s ability to create opportunities is unmatched by other players, Gabriel is essential in both areas.
Because Arsenal is so focused on set plays, injuries to these players would immediately reduce their effectiveness, which is particularly concerning.
In a similar vein, Arteta’s defense-first strategy has hampered his team in crucial games during his tenure, raising questions about his capacity to lead Arsenal to victory.
This was evident in the fact that Arsenal only gained one point from early-season matches against Man City and Liverpool.
However, Arteta later silenced his detractors by going all out against Newcastle United on the way to a crucial 2-1 triumph.
Arsenal’s performance against their bogey team, Newcastle, stands out as a possible turning moment for Arteta and his team, since his previous unwillingness to change seems to have kept his team from realising its full potential.
However, if this turns out to be an isolated incident, the pitchforks will be back out.
Just fifth in a different Premier League standings
Four other teams—Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool—have greater xG ratings than Arsenal, indicating the north London team’s struggles in front of goal.
Arsenal’s excellent defensive statistics currently cover up their shortcomings in this area, but this does imply that if they are not nearly as clinical with their opportunities in future games, wins could turn into draws more frequently.
