Arsenal Vs Southampton: 5 things we learned – Job done

1. A midfielder is needed

After missing a week with an ankle injury he suffered against City, Granit Xhaka immediately returned to the starting XI upon his availability. The Swiss international has been integral to Arteta’s central midfield, and he was again here, this time playing a more orthodox holding role than the left-sided role he played in prior to lockdown.

Xhaka was joined by Dani Ceballos, the pair tasked with dictating play from deep, allowing Arsenal to play out from the back, and supplying the front three in more advanced areas of the pitch. Neither was especially influential, and while Xhaka’s performance was encouraging in the first half, his second-half showing was disastrous.

Ceballos’ passing accuracy in his last three games was 80%, 76% and 76%. He completed the same number of final-third passes than Emiliano Martinez. Xhaka, meanwhile, had just 32 touches in a first half that Arsenal dominated. He played only 26 passes, of which 15 were backwards. By the end of the match, he had 52 touches, one fewer than Ceballos.

It is quite clear. Arsenal need a central midfielder. They lacked control, could not contain Southampton, and consistently failed to play out from the back. Xhaka and Ceballos are not the solutions, and yet, at present, they are the best Arteta has got available to him.