Arsenal 5-1 Everton: 3 talking points from final-day win

2. Another game with no clean-sheet

Clean sheets are of secondary importance in any game as long as the three points are secured, but it will still be a major source of frustration for Arteta that the defensive improvement he instilled earlier in the campaign has dissipated so dramatically.

Although it ultimately counted for little, van de Beek’s first-half strike made it ten consecutive games in which Arsenal have failed to keep the opposition out and such porosity is compounded by the nature of the goals conceded, with the Dutchman drifting into the box all too easily and taking his chance unmarked inside the six-yard box.

Of course, the lengthy injury list at the back is certainly a factor in our current fallibility, and it is perhaps only natural for a makeshift- and admittedly low quality- backline to appear suspect against Premier League opposition.

However, these basic errors still need to be urgently addressed because recent injury records indicate we could well find ourselves in a similar position further down the line, and that could prove costly if fighting on multiple fronts forces us to divide resources next year.

Continued on the next slide…