The bold Riccardo Calafiori decision that Mikel Arteta could be forced into

The international break is in full swing, and several Arsenal stars are away on international duty, taking a break from club football. However, in a week's time, they will all be back in North London, preparing for the Gunners' next game, which is against Leeds United.

Mikel Arteta will be mostly satisfied with how his side have started the season. They won four in a row before losing 3-0 to Brighton in a game which exposed some areas to improve. However, on the whole, the Gunners yet again look like the team to beat in the Premier League.

Despite their immense squad depth, Arsenal do have holes in the team. Most notably, the striker position is still up in arms amid Viktor Gyokeres' poor start to the year, and the left-wing spot, after Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard both left in the summer transfer window.

Arsenal have an issue at left-back

At face value, you would say this isn't true. Riccardo Calafiori has been the starting left-back in every game this season for Arsenal, and he's looked good. He's very good defensively and has produced attacking returns at times.

However, when you delve into the numbers, there is an issue here. According to Opta Analyst, the left-back spot is one of two areas in the pitch where the Gunners are losing out, alongside the centre-forward position.

The Gunners dominate the ball 34% of the time at left-back. Comparing that to the other areas of defence, they have 65% dominance at centre-back and 49% at right-back. The stat means opposing teams are touching the ball significantly more in Calafiori's area of the pitch, highlighting it as a weak point to attack.

In practice, this means Calafiori isn't winning the ball enough or isn't retaining it; either way, there is a problem here. If more teams begin to identify it, they may be able to exploit Arsenal's defence down Calafiori's side.

Arteta could be forced to pick Lewis-Skelly

As things stand, it isn't a huge concern, but it could become one if teams begin to attack Calafiori's side more often. So, what can Arteta do to fix the issue? Either he needs to ensure that Calafiori stays wide and the centre-backs cover him more centrally, or he needs to make a personnel change.

Myles Lewis-Skelly would be the obvious choice in this scenario, as he has, for the most part, been a left-back for the Gunners. However, we've seen in the past that, even though Lewis-Skelly is better on the ball and realistically would keep possession better, he can be caught out defensively.

Considering that, Arteta has few options at left-back, so it could be worth addressing in the transfer market, or he could look to less obvious options such as Piero Hincapie, who is both good on the ball, and defensivley solid.

It's not time to press the panic button, but, Arteta should be aware of it over the next few weeks and should consider trying a few different options at left-back before committing to Calafiori.

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