Emmanuel Petit says he spotted one Arsenal player looking ‘upset’ during the Liverpool game

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Arsenal icon Emmanuel Petit was watching how one player was acting during the Gunners’ defeat to Liverpool.

Arsenal suffered their first loss of the season on matchday three, falling agonisingly short to Liverpool by the finest of margins. 

Dominik Szoboszlai’s 32-yard direct free-kick was the only difference between Mikel Arteta’s and Arne Slot’s sides. 

There is, however, a lot of discourse about how Arteta set his team up at Anfield, as the North Londoners looked to be lacking a lot of creativity. 

• READ MORE: Alan Shearer was really shocked about one thing Mikel Arteta did against Liverpool, ‘I don’t know…’

Emmanuel Petit noticed Viktor Gyokeres’ frustration vs Liverpool

With Martin Odegaard not fit enough to start, Eberechi Eze and Ethan Nwaneri were on hand to take the captain’s place in the number ten role.

Instead, Arteta started Mikel Merino alongside Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in midfield, taking the more conservative approach.

Arteta’s decision not to start Eze has been questioned by many in the media; however, the biggest fallout from the squad selection call might’ve come closer to home. 

Just like he was at Old Trafford, Viktor Gyokeres was isolated against Liverpool, but it wasn’t something the striker could be blamed for. 

Time after time, Gyokeres was trying to make a run in behind, but service wasn’t there to open a chance up for the Swede. 

Emmanuel Petit noticed what the 27-year-old was trying to do, sharing that he saw Gyokeres looking ‘upset’ at Anfield. 

“I was concentrating on him [Gyokeres] for at least 10 minutes during that game and he was quite upset about the runs he was making all the time,” Petit said on talkSPORT.

“We you could see that Merino and even Zubimendi were holding the ball, and they saw the run he was making behind you know in open space, and they never gave him the ball.

“All the time, they were always playing back the ball, always controlling the rhythm.”

Though Martin Zubimendi made it hard for Liverpool to play, the holding midfielder and Merino also made it difficult for their own teammate at times.

Arsenal have to quickly learn how to play to Gyokeres’ strengths 

One of the most frustrating moments from the game was what Gabriel Martinelli did in the ninth minute against Liverpool. 

Gyokeres was ahead of the Brazilian and ready to run onto a through ball, but instead, Martinelli ran with no direction and with his head down. 

It’s still very early days, but Arteta really needs to double down on how his players build play because, right now, so many chances are being squandered due to not knowing how to play to Gyokeres’ strengths.

Arsenal signed a number nine who is capable of putting the ball into the net, a target man, rather than a playmaking and fluid forward, emphasising the importance of those around the striker to make things happen.

With two goals from his first three Premier League appearances, Gyokeres won’t be too concerned about his start to the season, but things need to change.