Positives and negatives as Gyökeres starts in Arsenal’s 3–2 defeat to Villarreal

Positive 2 - Ethan Nwaneri was involved in everything good going forward

Ethan Nwaneri had a great game today and was involved in almost everything that Arsenal did well going forward.

He showed plenty of confidence taking the ball on the turn and running at the Villarreal defence. Nwaneri was not afraid to have a shot at goal and on another day he might have walked off with a brace.

The relationship between Nwaneri and Saka is verging on the telepathic. If he can develop a similar understanding with the other forward players as the season progresses, the Arsenal attack will be a difficult one to stop.

Negative 2 - Not enough pressure on the ball in defensive transitions

Although Christian Noorgard held his position well at the base of the midfield, neither Mikel Merino or Ethan Nwaneri put enough pressure on the ball in defensive transitions.

Whenever there was a breakdown in play going forward, Villarreal were afforded too much space in central areas to pick a counter-attacking pass.

If Arsenal are going to commit so many players forward, they must be alert to counter-attacking threats far more quickly than today. This starts as far up as Saka and Martinelli who could do more to protect the midfield trio in defensive transitions.