Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal Vs Aston Villa: 5 things we learned – Midtable performance; midtable team

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Trezeguet of Aston Villa scores a goal to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal FC at Villa Park on July 21, 2020 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Trezeguet of Aston Villa scores a goal to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal FC at Villa Park on July 21, 2020 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images) /

3. Defending set-pieces a major issue

Arsenal have never been the greatest set-piece defenders. But this season, it has been a huge Achilles Heel that has repeatedly undermined their progress.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

They conceded from a corner kick here. It was a calamity of errors. David Luiz’s poor pass conceded the corner in the first place. Then Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was tasked with Tyrone Mings. Not only was that a mismatch but he also did not concentrate when the corner was taken, allowing Mings to jump clear and flick the ball on at the near post.

Then the ball to fell to Trezeguet at the far post. Cedric Soares was slow to close down the shot and the Villa winger smashed an excellent finish past Emiliano Martinez at the near post. The final shot was unstoppable, but what led to it was the perfect illustration of how lapse Arsenal are when defending set-pieces.

Per Orbinho, Arsenal have now conceded 46% of their Premier League goals from set-pieces. It is the highest proportion in the league. For all of the improvements that Arteta has made, the set-piece defending has substantially deteriorated since his arrival. If it is not fixed, the Gunners will continue to struggle.