Mikel Arteta is figuratively playing Whac-A-Mole. Just as Martin Odegaard returns from injury, Bukayo Saka needs hamstring surgery. Arsenal found some much-needed clinical finishing in the 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa, scoring twice from crosses, only to concede twice in eight minutes from balls into their box.
Start with the positives. Leandro Trossard’s two assists, first for Gabriel Martinelli, then Kai Havertz, took Arsenal to 11 goals from crosses this season. It’s the most in the Premier League. Arteta has filled the Saka-shaped creativity void by shifting right-footed Martinelli from left wing to right, and playing two-footed Trossard off the left. It has opened up byline crosses.
Arsenal’s 10 completed crosses (from 35 attempts) against Villa was their most in a league game this term. They continued to build up in a 3-2-5, as left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly became an extra No 6 next to Declan Rice. No 8 Mikel Merino made channel runs when Trossard dropped deep to receive.
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Arsenal’s season is being derailed by a combination of injury and in-game fragility
The opening goal was a slick move, involving 15 passes and plenty of patience after some excellent recovery defending. Arsenal pressed from a Villa throw-in deep in their own half, only for the visitors to play through them and their No 10, Morgan Rogers, found Ollie Watkins for an angled shot, which Gabriel blocked.
Arsenal went upfield through the thirds, left to right and back again.
A narrow Lewis-Skelly passed out to Merino. His rotation with Trossard confused Villa’s Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara, who tried to switch marking responsibilities but left both free.
Merino slotted Trossard through.
One-v-one against a recovering Kamara, Trossard shifted the ball outside and crossed deep for Martinelli to poke in.
His finish was scrappy, hit into the floor, and goalkeeper Emi Martinez almost kept it out, but the approach play mattered — Martinelli locking off the back post, as a far-side winger should, and arcing his run inside left-back Ian Maatsen.
Arsenal rarely score goals like this when Saka starts, as he and Martinelli play inverted, which suits back-post, inswinging crosses.
There were only 17 Arsenal chances from open-play crosses in their first 16 league matches of the season, compared with 13 such shots in their last six.
Only 15 per cent of their chances have been created from the wings — they need more layers in attack.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Havertz’s recent winner at home to Ipswich Town came from a Trossard byline dribble and left-footed cross.
Martinelli made Arsenal’s third in the 5-1 away win over Crystal Palace last month, when he went outside Tyrick Mitchell before crossing for Gabriel Jesus. When his header hit the post, Havertz tapped in the rebound.
Trossard’s second assist against Villa was a slight variation on his first. Another long passing sequence pulled the visitors, in their 4-4-2 mid-block, across the pitch.
Lewis-Skelly pinned Rogers centrally, so Gabriel could pass to Trossard, who was isolated against Cash.
Cash gestured for Rogers to cover Lewis-Skelly’s underlap, but that never came and Trossard went for the byline, with Cash only jockeying.
Arsenal runs were varied: Havertz went near post, Odegaard held his run for a cutback, and Martinelli attacked the back post. Trossard found Havertz’s left foot, and his volley was central but struck hard, diverting into the bottom corner after hitting Martinez’s knees.
Now for the negatives.
Arsenal have eight draws this season and, while the 2-2 with Villa extends their unbeaten league run to 12 games, they are dropping too many points. Arteta praised his side for being “stable” pre-match, though that dozen includes five draws.
It is an oversimplification to say Villa’s goals from crosses owed to William Saliba’s absence through injury, as their first came from poor tracking of midfield runners. Unai Emery switched his left-back at half-time (Lucas Digne on for Ian Maatsen) and Villa’s full-backs were more aggressive, with the No 10s narrow.
Arsenal stayed compact and slotted into a back five. Trossard came deep to cover Cash. If the upside to Martinelli at right-wing is alternative crossing angles, the downside is he does not contribute defensively like Saka. The Brazil international did not recover to press a switch to Digne, with right-back Thomas Partey kept narrow by Jacob Ramsey.
This left Digne in space, and he produced a wicked cross that landed just outside the six-yard box.
Arsenal ended up man-for-man against Watkins and Villa’s trio of No 10s. Everyone went with their runner, apart from Merino, with Youri Tielemans sneaking into his blindspot and crashing through to header past David Raya. 2-1.
“Defending in the way that we did, it cannot be part of our game if we want to be at the highest level,” said Arteta.
Last season, it was not a part. Arsenal’s defence was built on the Saliba and Gabriel partnership, and opponents only completed 15.8 per cent of crosses. In the past seven Premier League seasons, only Chelsea in 2020-21 (15.6 per cent) have defended crosses better — they played a back three for part of that campaign after Thomas Tuchel took over.
Saliba’s absence, after sustaining a hamstring injury in the north London derby, did compound things. Villa’s second came from right-back Cash crossing on the second phase of a set piece. It was another outstanding ball, on his non-dominant left foot, to the back post. Watkins got away from Partey before and fired in off the crossbar.
Superb technique from Ollie Watkins, and Aston Villa are level.
Two goals in eight minutes for Unai Emery’s side. #ARSAVL | #AVFC
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— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 18, 2025
Arsenal’s right side was awkward out of possession, exploited in their own half for Villa’s goals and in the press too.
Martinelli positioned narrow to jump onto Villa left centre-back Tyrone Mings, which helped force Villa long in the first half. The arrival of Digne at the interval changed things as the left-back was free to receive from Martinez and this split the press, preventing Arsenal pinning the visitors back.
Arsenal are now six games without a clean sheet in all competitions, their longest run since seven consecutive league matches in spring 2023 — that coincided with Saliba’s season-ending injury.
Arteta has found solutions for old problems as new ones emerge, and fixing all of them is unrealistic considering Arsenal have midweek matches for the next three weeks (two Champions League fixtures and a Carabao Cup second-leg trip to Newcastle United).
Opta has it that Arsenal’s title chances are down to eight per cent, which means Arteta needs to find even more solutions.
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
