Lens 2-1 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners endure horror night

Arsenal suffered their first loss of the campaign as French side Lens came from behind to secure a 2-1 win on a dirty night for the Gunners.

When discussing horrendous nights for Arsenal, Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to French side Lens will have to be up there with the worst in a very long time.

Errors at both ends of the pitch in the first half led to goals as Lens fought back through Adrien Thomasson, who pounced on David Raya’s error and brought the hosts level after he’d helped Gabriel Jesus give the visitors the lead.

With the second half underway, Arsenal didn’t get going as Lens swarmed the north London side and, in truth, might have given teams the perfect blueprint for how to stop the Gunners.

As Lens made life difficult for Arsenal and didn’t allow them to find any rhythm, with 20 minutes remaining, Elye Wahi fired the home side in front, and they never relinquished that lead.

If the scoreline wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal lost Bukayo Saka to injury before the half-time whistle, and with Manchester City up next in the league, it looks like the Gunners paid a heavy price for losing to Lens.

Lens 2-1 Arsenal: 3 talking points as Gunners endure horror night

The game provided plenty of talking points; here they are.

1. Bukayo Saka’s injury a huge concern

Before the teamsheets dropped, many thought that Saka, given he was dealing with an injury throughout the week, would take no part in the game, given City is next on the league schedule.

But alas, the winger took his place in the side, and he didn’t last a half before being withdrawn.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1709320936170684893

Arteta was rather tight-lipped with what happened to his star player, but the fact that he was under an injury cloud before the game, playing him was a questionable decision for some.

Now, in what is Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far, they could be without their most potent weapon.

Not ideal.

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