The mood around the Emirates was fantastic after Arsenal picked up four wins on the bounce. Fans were dreaming about a place in the top-four but Crystal Palace handed us a reality check last night.
The Eagles showed we are a long way off where we aspire to be. Mikel Arteta blamed fatigue for his side’s underwhelming performance, but stats show that a lot of our problems yesterday were the same as the ones we had a few weeks ago.
Arteta and his men deserve a lot of praise for turning things around after Boxing Day, but the Arsenal boss will not like the look of these five seriously worrying statistics.
Terrible home form
Arsenal have failed to score in four of our nine Premier League home games this term. We have won just three times in the league at the Emirates this season and just once in the last seven fixtures. That is simply not good enough.
Relying on a defender to create chances
If last night’s game showed anything, it’s that Kieran Tierney is our most important player.
The Scotsman has created 20 chances this term – more than any other Arsenal player, while Bellerin comes second with 15. That shows our attackers aren’t doing what’s expected of them and that has to change ASAP.
What’s wrong with Auba?
Aubameyang has never had a run as poor as this in his career. He has scored just three times in the league this season, and irrespective of whether it’s his fault or not, that has cost us dearly.
The Gabon star started the game well last night but faded off. He can’t keep doing that, especially with Gabriel Martinelli waiting to take his place.
Only a slight improvement compared to last season
After 18 games, Arsenal have picked up just 24 points. That is terrible on its own but we picked up five points less from the equivalent fixtures last season. The improvement is positive, but it’s not quite good enough.
Pepe has worse stats than under-fire Willian
Willian has been in the firing line since after his first debut. The Brazilian has not been good, there is no sugarcoating that. However, it’s time Nicolas Pepe starts taking some responsibility.
The Ivorian hasn’t had many chances in the Premier League, but when he has come on, has has been poor. Pepe has created zero chances from open play in the league this season. That is shocking considering that Willian – who is viewed by many as our worst player – has created 12.
Pepe needs to take a long, hard look at himself. The quality is clearly there but the hunger is nowhere to be found.
If he keeps this up, Arsenal will have no choice but to cash in on him in the summer. That would be a real shame as we know how good he can be when he’s in the mood.
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