Three clues from Arsenal loss to Aston Villa that show why Arteta WON’T win Prem title | OneFootball

Arsenal slipped up to suffer their first Premier League defeat since August as a last-kick Emiliano Buendia winner sent a reminder that the title race is anything but a foregone conclusion.

Some were starting to believe the title was Arsenal’s to lose, and it may yet be, but the fact of the matter is it’s still December and the race is open. By losing to Villa, Arsenal have seen their lead at the top of the table cut to three points. A Manchester City win over Sunderland would cut it further to two.

So, what issues could cause Arsenal to slip up further in the title race?

Struggling without Gabriel and Saliba

Arsenal went into the game with neither of their usual starting centre-back partnership available.

They have been boasting the best defensive record in the league thanks to the understanding that Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba have.

Against Villa, Mikel Arteta had to do something different. He opted for Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber to play at centre-back, with Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori as full-backs.

In theory, any of those players can play at centre-back, and yet Arsenal didn’t have the same defensive solidity.

The first Villa goal stemmed from a failed Calafiori clearance, for example, and Hincapie didn’t cover himself in glory in the build up to the late winner.

Between them, Calafiori and White cost Arsenal around £100m to sign as centre-backs, but both have become full-backs for Arteta’s side.

True, Calafiori played as a left-back before for Roma and Basel, but his breakout in Serie A with Bologna was because of his transformation into a centre-back.

It may seem strange after he made a misjudgement in his own defensive third to suggest he’d be better equipped to taking on even more defensive duties, but just like with White, it is a bit peculiar – and probably overlooked, given how good Arsenal usually are defensively – that he is almost always being used at full-back.

Moreover, without Gabriel and Saliba’s aerial dominance, Arsenal have also become less effective from set pieces, historically a stronghold of their game under Arteta.

Has Gyokeres signing actually solved striker issue?

At the other end of the pitch, Mikel Merino was the starting striker, with Viktor Gyokeres later brought on as a sub.

Gyokeres was supposed to have solved the striker issue at Arsenal when he joined from Sporting in the summer, but the fact that a player who arrived at the club as a midfielder a year earlier is still occasionally playing in his position suggests something is still lingering as a problem.

Fitness issues have held the Sweden international back at times, but even when available, he hasn’t been able to hit his stride.

Merino wasn’t that impressive in his place up front against Villa and his limitations on the ball were exposed when massively overhitting a simple through ball that would have put Bukayo Saka through on goal in the first half.

Perhaps Gyokeres’ time is about to come, but there are still question marks over him too.

Man City clicking into gear

Arsenal may have become title favourites recently, but they still haven’t won the league in over 20 years.

The pressure and weight of expectations could become too much to bear as the season wears on, with more serial winners like Manchester City finding their rhythm.

City have been clicking into gear recently and went two goals up in the first half of their game against Sunderland in the aftermath of Arsenal’s loss.