3 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s draw with Southampton

Positive #3: Ødegaard and Xhaka

These two were wonderful today. Xhaka got the goal and he and Ødegaard were fantastic, particularly in the first half when we controlled the match well.

Ødegaard produced a very typical performance; making the team tick and finding good opportunities to try and score. His interchange with Jesus just before half-time was an assist-of-the-year candidate had the Brazilian’s shot gone in.

They were both great which brings us to the decision to bring on Fabio Vieira for the impressive skipper. It was a poor one in hindsight. The team lost the bite that the Norwegian was bringing, and Vieira was forcing it far too much.

Good performances from those two on a mixed day.

Negative #3: Arteta’s decisions

Arteta got it wrong today. The team remained unchanged from the past few Premier League matches with Takehiro Tomiyasu at left back and while he was solid enough, Kieran Tierney could have offered something different if he had started.

Speaking of the Scot, when he did come on, I thought it was strange for him to replace Ben White – who had a very impressive game going forward, registering an assist. With his other subs, the Vieira one didn’t turn out well and bringing him on for Ødegaard was especially puzzling. Finally, Eddie Nketiah. We saw him and Jesus playing together for the first time on Thursday against PSV and Eddie was the one deployed out left. He was once again deployed out wide for Gabriel Martinelli on Sunday, but, once again, he didn’t look comfortable.

Given that Jesus has way more experience on the wing, it would make more sense for him to be there when the pair play together.

The dropped points suck, but it’s not the end of the world. Arsenal are still very good, and we’ll be looking to bounce back in the league against bottom-feeders Nottingham Forest next weekend.