3 positives & negatives from the 2-2 draw against West Ham

Positive #2: Gabriel Jesus scores again

Gabriel Jesus has been in fine goalscoring form post-international break. His opener in this match now means the Brazilian has scored four goals in three games since the start of April as he has returned from his lengthy injury in fine form.

Those four goals have taken his Premier League tally to nine this season, and while Jesus is a striker who offers plenty besides simple goalscoring, his goals undoubtedly make us a far better side.

If we are to win the Premier League, we will need the 26-year-old to continue to thrive in front of goal for the remainder of the season.

Negative #2: Lack of chance creation

Putting the early stages of the match to one side, we severely struggled to create any clear-cut goalscoring chances for the vast majority of the match. Particularly in the second half, there was a clear absence of urgency, as well as imagination, from the players when in possession and this led to a rather disjointed attacking display.

The statistics support that claim. Despite recording just 28% possession in the match, David Moyes’ side were able to register five more shots than Arteta’s men. The xG Philosophy confirmed that the Gunners were far too lacklustre in the final third after our initial demolition of the Hammers, stating that “Arsenal created 1.63 non-penalty xG in the first ten minutes against West Ham, but only 0.46 thereafter.”

A similar narrative was true for our draw Anfield, and this is an issue Arteta must find a solution to urgently.

Continued on the next slide…