Arsenal’s poor striking form is a major concern for gaffer Mikel Arteta following just eight goals in six Premier League games.
Mikel Arteta mentioned that he is worried about the deficiency in the final third for Arsenal. Also, this issue tallies up with the lack of goals from the Gunners captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Moreover, the concerns are rising for Arteta following successive defeats to Manchester City and Leicester City. In addition, Arsenal did not score more than 2 goals across all the competitions including the Premier League.
After Alexandre Lacazette’s disallowed goal in the first half, the Gunners could not build up motivation in the front. Arsenal ended up taking just one shot in the second half before Jamie Vardy’s winning goal.
And the statistics are here to prove this poor form by Arteta’s side. Arsenal’s average shots per match are 8.8, which is the lowest since the season 1997-98. Furthermore, the club reached the worst rate in 25 years with only 1.3 goals per game.
Major concerns in the final third.
On the other hand, Aubameyang has only netted one goal in six appearances in the new season.
Additionally, after Mesut Ozil’s omission, it seems that Arteta is struggling to develop his attacking potential.
“I think there were two different halves [against Leicester],” he told reporters ahead of Thursday’s match with Dundalk.
“The first half we interpreted really well what the game needed. We were dominant and aggressive. The team won the ball back in really good areas. We didn’t give the ball away in any dangerous areas and created enough chances to go ahead but we didn’t manage to do that.
“The team scored a goal that was disallowed and the second half we started fatigue-wise to make more mistakes in more difficult areas and not be as threatening as we should have been to finalize the game.
“The moment we created open space they had really good action and we conceded a goal. We lost the game on a very small margin and I’m disappointed because we should have done a bit better there.
“I’m concerned in the second half that we should have done better. We only had the chance from Hector [Bellerin] but they didn’t have anything until after 75 or 80 minutes, but it’s still something we have to improve on. To attack better and to sustain attacks in long periods. We’ve been working on that, so hopefully, we can improve it.
“The pressure is related to this football game that you have to win every game. We didn’t win against Leicester or Man City. Consider the demands everybody puts on us because we are the club that we are and that should never change.
“In the last eight to 10 months, the improvement of teams, quality, and the organization have been the biggest I’ve seen than in the last few years. It’s not a coincidence, you can see that in every Premier League game. The league is in a great place at the moment.”
Arsenal’s David Luiz will miss the Europa League clash against Dundalk and potentially weekend’s game vs Manchester United.
However, Willian could play this week after his return and Bukayo Saka is completely fit to be in action after his knock.
“We try to go game by game, but in the last 10 days we have had a lot of issues at the back with central defenders,” Arteta said. “If we lose another one, we’re in big trouble.
“We have to keep an eye on it and how to manage the squad.”
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