Arsenal clearly took the Napoli frustration personally

Arsenal produced a rampant performance away at Ipswich Town on Tuesday night, progressing into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with ease.

A brace from Max Dowman, as well as strikes from Mikel Merino and Noni Madueke, saw the Gunners comfortably dispatch the Tractor Boys at Portman Road. Mikel Arteta fielded a makeshift eleven, and his players responded by delivering a ruthlessly efficient display in front of goal.

While the night was primarily about getting minutes into the legs of youngsters and fringe players, and protecting certain other players, it was also about righting some of the wrongs from recent matches - most notably Napoli away.

Arsenal were profligate against Napoli

Arsenal's finishing in Napoli left a lot to be desired. The exceptional away performance at an intimidating European ground was somewhat tarnished by a frustratingly profligate showing in front of goal.

Mikel Merino missed a header from point-blank range, Bukayo Saka skied the ball when one-on-one with the keeper, and Piero Hincapie lifted it over from about three yards out, when it looked much harder to miss. These are just a number of examples of wasted opportunities from the Gunners. Had Martin Odegaard not scored spectacularly from the edge of the box with 15 minutes left to play, Arsenal would've emerged with a point when they almost certainly deserved to take all three.

There would've been exhausting discourse for days about how the Gunners can't finish their dinner, and it would've been unbearable.

They left Napoli having created over four expected goals - their greatest xG total for an away game since 2017. They had 26 shots and 51 touches in the opposition box. It was a complete performance that simply wasn't reflected in the scoreline.

Arsenal made up for this profligacy in Ipswich

As tends to be the case with xG, Arsenal 'cashed in' the goals they left on the table just six days later. They took their frustrations out in Suffolk, with four separate excellent finishes securing a productive win.

Dowman's two neat finishes were improbable, while Merino expertly tucked his half chance away and Madueke emphatically finished on the volley from an acute angle. This was finishing of the highest order, which proves just how variable converting chances can be.

Arsenal created 0.95 xG at Ipswich, scoring four of their 12 total shots, meaning across the two away matches, they scored five goals from around 5 xG.

Clearly, there is no need to be concerned about Arsenal's finishing. Ideally, the players would distribute their excellent strikes to more important matches, but over the course of the season, it should level out.

This applies to Saka, who has been criticised for his inefficient shooting as well. The Gunners' talisman has no doubt not yet found his shooting boots this season, but he does have three goals to his name already and goals will keep coming at an impressive rate if he continues to generate xG and shots. Fear not, Gooners.

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