Arteta must drop the 4/10 Arsenal star who lost the ball 18 times against Aston Villa

Arsenalchances of winning Premier League suffered a major blow on Saturday night when they drew 2-2 against Aston Villa.

The win over Spurs in midweek was quickly forgotten Mikel Arteta“these people were left to regret some missed opportunities and give up in defense.

That hasn’t been Arsenal in recent seasons. They were incredibly difficult to score on and scored regularly.

This is no ordinary season though. From the moment Declan Rice was red-carded against Brighton for ‘delaying the restart’, bad luck and obstacles were a regular occurrence.

It doesn’t look like this is going to be Arsenal’s season, but it’s hard to put things down to Arteta.

There were red cards, there were injuries, there were rude accidents. However, the Gunners must play better football.

Where things went wrong for Arsenal against Aston Villa

One of the main problems facing Arteta’s men in recent weeks has been their ability to dominate but still concede a goal.

Against Tottenham, Arsenal had all the ball in the first quarter of the game, but still found themselves behind.

So when the hosts took a 2-0 lead on Saturday, there was a sense of confidence in the air that the Gunners would get the job done. They didn’t.

Although Jurrien Timber played superbly in the absence of the injured William Saliba, they really missed the presence of the Frenchman in the box. They also lacked Timber’s acumen at right back.

It was a header from one of the smallest players on the pitch – Youri Tielemans – that got Villa back into the game when Lucas Digne headed in on the left.

It was another cross, this time from the right, that led to the equalizer for Ollie Watkins, who peeled off the back post and beat David Raya over the bar.

The defending wasn’t great, but Arsenal could have done more to force things in the final third.

Leandro Trossard stood up when it mattered, assisting both of Arsenal’s goals, but he didn’t get much help from the traditional orchestrator in this team, Martin Odegaard.

The Norwegian was a significant underperformer this weekend, providing only one pass of the keyfailing to win a duel and also losing possession 18 times.

He wasn’t the worst in Arsenal colors though…

Arsenal’s worst performance against Aston Villa

While Odegaard should take criticism for not doing enough, the blame must also be shifted to the direction Thomas Partey.

With Timber being forced to play at centre-back, this meant that Partey was again replaced at right-back. While his build-up play was mostly good, actually providing more key passes (2) than Odegaard, his defense left a lot to be desired.

He played out of position but attracted criticism for his role in both of Villa’s goals. A through ball found Digne on the left, and Partey could only lunge towards him and didn’t close it down adequately. The ball ended up being perfect for Tielemans.

It was then his goal for Villa’s second goal in which Watkins found the back of the net described as “school level” Arsenal reporter Oli Price Bates.

The Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid gave a harsher assessment of the Gancanco’s display, suggesting that it is “unbelievable”. It was no surprise given those reviews that he was earning such a low match rating of 4/10 from Express.

His overall numbers suggested that was the case too, losing possession on 18 occasions and attempting just one cross from his right-back role.

He made only one tackle, one interception and was assessed a fumble that led to a sack. It wasn’t his best night at the office and maybe you can understand why considering he wasn’t in position.

However, it is an experiment that Arteta has to give up. Provided Saliba is fit for their next Premier League appearance, Partey must get a boot from the starting XI.