Arsenal: 3 negatives from 3-2 win over Watford

3. Opportunities Squandered

Arsenal had 16 shots to Watford’s 13, and four on target to Watford’s seven. Yet, despite that, it was Arsenal who got all the plaudits for some outstanding attacking play, in a game they controlled from around the 30th minute all the way through until the 70th or so.

Nonetheless, they recorded an xG of just 0.94. The amount of times where an opportunity was squandered when the team had broke through Watford without testing Ben Foster resulted in the game being as tight as it was at the end.

Reminiscent of the Burnley game away from home where numerous forays forward were wasted with the final pass or poor decision making, this was a game Arsenal could, and should, have scored more in.

On this occasion they weren’t punished. Three excellent goals were enough to make up for the sloppiness defensively, although on other days they might not be as fortunate.

The team are certainly more adventurous – the like which is hugely exciting and fun to watch – but such an approach does mean you can be more vulnerable, and if it’s an approach to take it needs to have the goals to show for it to cover for any potential inadequacies at the back.

The three goals Arsenal scored were of a such a high standard. A few of the uglier ones wouldn’t go amiss, though, as they won’t score thumping efforts like that every game.