Arsenal player ratings vs Southampton: 1-0 defeat dents top four hopes

Arsenal saw their top four ambitions suffer another gigantic blow on Saturday afternoon as a first half goal from Jan Bednarek secured Southampton a 1-0 Premier League win at St Mary’s.

Mikel Arteta had huge selection calls to make pre-game following events against Brighton, with the biggest of all being where Granit Xhaka would play.

Despite strongly hinting that he would feature at left-back again, it was Nuno Tavares who started in the position with the Swiss midfielder moved back centrally to partner Sambi Lokonga.

Having missed training in the days building up with Covid-19 there was no place in the squad for Alexandre Lacazette, with Eddie Nketiah instead leading the line. Gabriel Martinelli started on the left of the attack.

Arsenal player ratings vs Southampton as Gunners suffer third straight Premier League defeat with 1-0 loss on Saturday

Bukayo Saka came closest to open the scoring when he failed to get enough purchase on a Martinelli cross and Fraser Forster produced a flying one handed save to prevent the goal.

Some dreadful defending would be Arsenal’s undoing just before half-time. All over the place at the back, the ball fell to Jan Bednarek to smash home from close range.

Substitute Smith Rowe came closest to getting the Gunners back in the game after the break only to be denied by another fine Forster save, in what was another frustrating and lifeless performance from Arteta’s side.

Forster made further saves to prevent Arsenal from claiming a goal they probably didn’t deserve. It was another weak display lacking any intensity or drive. Tottenham’s slip-up goes unpunished.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 5/10 – Had some neat moments in possession and aside from conceding didn’t have a great deal to do other than some decent claims from wide deliveries. Could he have done better from Bednarek? Debatable.

Cedric Soares (LB) – 4/10 – What on earth is he doing on set pieces? An absolute mess with deliveries, whether corners or free-kicks, the repeated nature of it made no sense. As for his defending, while there were some decent blocks, his positioning was poor and when he did get forward his crosses were to nobody. Not a good day for Cedric.

Benjamin White (CB) – 5/10 – Had an interesting battle with Armando Broja but was in no man’s land for the Saints’ goal when he was even deeper than his goalkeeper.

Gabriel (CB) – 6/10 – Was the one player trying to break the lines with his passing much crisper than it had been in previous matches. He found Odegaard in the pockets and tried to push a limp Arsenal forward.

Nuno Tavares (LB) – 6/10 – Back in the side, there wasn’t much going for Nuno with Southampton restricting spaces in behind. Whipped in some neat deliveries but it was a frustrating afternoon for him, even if he was one of the better performers. Kept things tidy.

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Midfielders

Albert Sambi Lokonga (CM) – 5/10 – Sambi didn’t necessarily do anything wrong in this match, it just wasn’t creative or, crucially, fast enough.

Too often he was taking two or sometimes even three more touches than he needed to and it slowed the game down far too much for the visitors. Far too nervy looking on the ball.

Granit Xhaka (CM) – 5/10 – Started the game poorly with sloppy distribution under no real pressure. Gradually moved closer to the opposition goal as the game wore on before Smith Rowe’s involvement saw the team switch to a back three, but there just wasn’t enough zip in the passing from the Swiss.

Martin Odegaard (AM) – 5/10 – Arsenal needed Odegaard in this game and in the first half he was nowhere to be seen. Wearing that captain’s armband he had to show more authority.

That improved after the break where he shifted the ball around with more intent, only for the final pass or shot to be lacking. Too many efforts went wide of the post.

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Forwards

Bukayo Saka (RW) – 5/10 – Starting out on the left, presumably to help Nuno out defensively, it didn’t feel natural enough for the Gunners and until he moved out to the right he didn’t impact the game as much as he would have liked.

Trying to beat his man/men down that side he wasn’t quite as incisive as he’s usually been.

Eddie Nketiah (ST) – 5/10 – Was one of the livelier players on the pitch. Nketiah kept running the channels, trying to stretch the pitch and giving central defenders minimal time on the ball, although his influenced waned after the break as he got crowded out by the home side’s defence.

Gabriel Martinelli (LW) – 4/10 – Nothing was coming off for Martinelli, whether that be taking his man on or having a shot off.

A really frustrating afternoon for the Brazilian who, like the rest, could not produce enough quality on the day.

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Substitutes

Emile Smith Rowe – 6/10 – Came on and forced the best save of the game from Forster when he somehow clawed his scuffed shot wide. Looked lively, but it was too little too late.

Nicolas Pepe – 4/10 – Had one improvised shot that went wide of the post. Other than that there wasn’t much impression at all from Pepe.