Arteta should drop Arsenal star who made simply 11 passes

Mikel Arteta‘s facet might be within the hunt to win the quadruple however Arsenal‘s final two efficiency have been something however classic.

Final Saturday was a much less glamour affair, profitable 2-1 away at Mansfield City however below the brilliant lights in Germany, they delivered a equally turgid efficiency towards Bayer Leverkusen.

Certainly, because the membership’s Champions League knock-out marketing campaign received underway, the Londoners drew 1-1 with their Bundesliga opposition they usually had been made to work extremely arduous to take a outcome again to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg subsequent Tuesday.

Kai Havertz returned to his former membership to attain a late penalty however it’s a must to say there was a component of luck to Arsenal coming away with something on their travels.

How Arsenal drew with Bayer Leverkusen

As Arsenal get in direction of the enterprise stage of the season you’ll be able to forgive them for wanting slightly drained. Properly, they’ve definitely appeared like that in current weeks, even when their squad depth has been hailed as the most effective in Europe.

Towards Leverkusen, they had been made to look fairly common, fact be instructed, because the crew with the second finest defensive file at dwelling within the Bundesliga proved precisely why they’re so tough to interrupt down.

Whereas Arsenal coasted by a lot of the sport with out being troubled an excessive amount of by the German outfit, their frustrations boiled right down to one more irritating night time within the remaining third, most particularly for Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal’s starboy lately signed a brand new mega contract to the tune of £300k-per-week however his performances have arguably not been justifying such a excessive wage.

In 2026 to date, the winger has scored simply twice in 14 matches. In reality, when you look again into the latter levels of 2025 and his run of video games with simply two targets extends to as many as 21.

He has been effectively under par for fairly a number of months now and his show in Leverkusen was maybe the nadir of his season to this point. Hauled off with out an hour even performed, Saka left the pitch having failed to offer a key go or have a shot on course. All three of his crosses had been inaccurate too.

In consequence, it was not a shock the remainder of the ahead line struggled. It was till Havertz’s late penalty that they discovered the online. Coincidentally, it was Saka’s alternative in Noni Madueke who received the spot kick.

Earlier than that, nonetheless, Leverkusen had overwhelmed Arsenal at their very own sport, with Robert Andrich scoring a header from a nook shortly after the break.

So, generally, it was a fairly poor night time for a lot of in crimson and white. That mentioned, Saka wasn’t Arsenal’s greatest underperformer.

Arsenal’s worst participant towards Leverkusen

Membership captain on the night time, Saka’s show was maybe certainly one of his worst for the membership since breaking by as a spritely teenager.

Nonetheless, he or his teammates had been hardly helped by striker Viktor Gyokeres who continues to be a polarising determine on the prime finish of the pitch for Arteta’s facet.

The Swede has struggled for consistency since becoming a member of from Sporting final summer time however in 2026, he has arguably been certainly one of Arsenal’s finest gamers. After scoring twice towards Spurs a number of weeks in the past, the centre-forward had netted eight targets in 12 matches this calendar yr.

Sadly, since that superb efficiency in north London, Gyokeres has reverted to kind. His efficiency towards Brighton within the 1-0 win was arguably his worst, ceding possession 13 instances regardless of taking simply 20 touches of the ball. He could not maintain the ball up in any respect.

Properly, it was an identical type of efficiency from the big-money arrival on this one. He lasted 74 minutes earlier than being changed by Havertz, however his substitution ought to have come a lot sooner.

Whereas Saka did get pleasure from a number of vibrant moments down the fitting, Gyokeres lower an nameless determine who merely could not maintain onto the ball. That meant Arsenal weren’t in a position to relieve any strain as soon as they received the ball ahead.

The large-money striker had simply 21 touches on Wednesday night, 11 fewer than goalkeeper David Raya, whereas he additionally accomplished solely 69% of his passes, ceding possession on six events.

To make issues worse, he didn’t have a single shot at objective. That sadly tells a sorry story of his Arsenal profession to this point. Too many video games have handed him by the place he has not appeared like a menace within the slightest.

Whereas Havertz’s involvement was restricted to the objective, it was a much more optimistic affect and at this important stage of the season, the German merely has to start out over each Gyokeres and Jesus. They’ll, nonetheless, have to maintain him match. They’ve been unable to take action for the most effective a part of a yr now, but when they’re to have any hope of profitable the competitors, Arteta wants him within the crew.

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