Analysis

Arsenal destabilised by defensive injuries as Mikel Arteta struggles to match set-piece threat from open play

Arsenal suffered a blow to their title bid with Sunday's 1-1 draw at Fulham; Gunners were unable to add to William Saliba's equaliser at Craven Cottage, prompting scrutiny of their attack, but they have also been hit by disruptive injuries to their defenders

Nick Wright

Comment and Analysis @nicholaspwright

Monday 9 December 2024 21:17, UK

Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday left Mikel Arteta with a familiar feeling of frustration. It was the seventh time they have dropped points in 15 Premier League games this term. They are six points worse off than at the same stage of last season.

It was particularly tough to take given his side's dominance. "We deserved to win from the beginning to the end," Arteta said. Fulham scored from one of only two shots. Their total of three touches in the opposition box was the lowest in the Premier League all season.

Arsenal, meanwhile, had 66 per cent of the possession and created chances worth more than two expected goals but were unable to add to William Saliba's close-range equaliser, with Bukayo Saka's late header ruled out by VAR for offside against Gabriel Martinelli.

Ultimately, the failure to add a second meant Arsenal missed the chance to move within four points of Liverpool. The result also highlighted some of their issues this season.

Defensive injuries and instability

A settled defence was the bedrock of Arsenal's title challenge last term. William Saliba played every minute. There was some disruption at left-back but Saliba's centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes only missed two games. Right-back Ben White only missed one.

This season has been different. The draw at Craven Cottage was the third Premier League game out of the last seven in which Arsenal haven't had their first-choice centre-back pairing, with Saliba having previously served a suspension and Gabriel nursing injuries.

The issues have been even more pronounced at full-back. Oleksandr Zinchenko's latest injury saw him re-join Riccardo Calafiori, White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the sidelines against Fulham. Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly have also missed games.

Zinchenko's absence meant a reshuffle on Sunday, with Thomas Partey moving to right-back and Timber switching to left-back. Together with centre-backs Saliba and Jakub Kiwior, they formed Arsenal's ninth back four in 15 Premier League games this season.

It is more than they fielded in 38 games last season.

Arsenal's makeshift backline was mostly untroubled by Fulham. But the impact of their defensive injuries could be seen for the opening goal, when Kiwior, probably Arteta's seventh-choice centre-back when everyone is fit, was easily outmanoeuvred by Raul Jimenez.

Arteta likely had the moment in mind when he referred to the "small margins" of the Premier League after the game.

The upheaval at full-back has been detrimental offensively too.

Against Fulham, for example, with a right footer at left-back and a natural central midfielder at right-back, Arsenal were never likely to carry their usual threat out wide and so it proved.

Bukayo Saka was relatively quiet but it was largely down to a lack of support, with Second Spectrum tracking data showing Partey only made one overlapping run all game. It was the same on the other side, where Timber only offered his winger one overlapping run.

Those runs on the outside are invaluable in dragging defenders away from wingers but they are not a part of Partey's game and they are awkward for the right-footed Timber when playing on the left too. That ultimately hampered Arsenal's attacking threat and made it easier for Fulham to defend their flanks effectively.

Open-play creativity lacking?

Sunday's game was just the latest in which Arsenal have shown their huge threat from set-pieces. Saliba's equaliser was their 23rd goal from a corner since the start of last season and the Gunners missed several other scoring opportunities from dead-ball situations.

But Arteta outlined his determination to be "kings of everything", not just corners, in his pre-match press conference and the numbers suggest they are lacking in other areas.

Arsenal created a modest 0.47 in non-corner expected goals against Fulham and their number was only marginally higher in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Manchester United.

It didn't matter against Ruben Amorim's side, with Arsenal able to score twice from corners without reply. Arteta would also argue that the two aspects are linked given the corners and free-kicks required for set-piece chances arise from open-play dominance.

Still, though, the numbers have caused some alarm among fans. Arsenal are the Premier League's most effective team when it comes to generating scoring chances from set-pieces but they rank in the bottom half this season for expected goals from open play.

It is not where they want to be, but context is important. In addition to the defensive injuries which have impacted their rhythm, Arsenal have had to cope without their main creator in Martin Odegaard for roughly half of their Premier League games due to injury.

Their fluency suffered without him and their overall numbers are also skewed by long periods playing with 10 men against Brighton, Manchester City and Bournemouth earlier this season.

Arsenal's squad does look light in attack, especially as Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling struggle to make a positive impact. But Arsenal scored a club-record number of goals last season and Arteta will hope a clearer injury list allows them to get back to that level.

The concern is that with Liverpool and Chelsea accumulating points at their current rates, any further slip-ups in the meantime will leave them with too much ground to make up.

No let-up in schedule

An easing of Arsenal's injury problems is not guaranteed either. In fact, their schedule heightens the risk of further setbacks, with the Gunners about to embark on a run of four games in 11 days, starting with Wednesday's Champions League clash against Monaco.

An inevitable knock-on effect of injuries is that others are required to play more minutes than planned. Timber, for example, has started 10 consecutive games and the lack of available alternatives means his run is likely to continue. It is a heavy workload for a player who only returned from a serious knee injury in the summer.

Rotation will be required, where possible, as Arsenal juggle their Champions League and Premier League commitments, plus a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace next week. But the need for silverware is such that no competition can be taken lightly.

If there is one positive, it is that their upcoming fixture list looks kinder, in terms of opponents if not in volume of games, than in the opening months of the campaign. Arsenal got a lot of their toughest games out of the way during that period.

They do not face any of the current top six in their next five Premier League games. Their January trips to Brentford and Brighton will not be easy but their next away game against a top-six side is not until they go to fifth-placed Nottingham Forest on February 25.

Arteta will hope that, by then, Arsenal are closer to the Premier League summit, rather than further away. But much will depend on the players they have available. Sunday's draw with Fulham was a reminder that there is little margin for error.