When the Premier League title is handed over next May we could well look back at this weekend as a decisive one for the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.
Earlier on Saturday, the Gunners were dealt a colossal blow to their title aspirations, losing 1-0 to Newcastle at St James’ Park.
They were handed a big lifeline when Manchester City failed to beat Bournemouth, losing 2-1 but Arne Slot’s Liverpool continue to motor on.
Their own hopes were dented by a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium a week ago but they responded well this weekend. Although they went a goal down to Brighton, strikes from Cody Gakpo and the inevitable Mohamed Salah meant they won 2-1.
So, what has that done to the league table? Arsenal remain five points behind Pep Guardiola’s side but Liverpool are now seven ahead of the Gunners.
So, have Mikel Arteta’s hopes been dashed as early as November? It certainly feels like it but they aren’t too far behind just yet.
That said, they are going to need to improve significantly against Inter Milan on Wednesday and then Chelsea next Sunday.
Arsenal’s worst performers against Newcastle
This was a day to forget for the north Londoners. It wasn’t Arteta’s finest hour but it’s difficult to hail many players on the visiting side at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Bukako Saka has to take credit but he felt like the only player capable of creating anything, notably supplying Declan Rice’s late chance that he somehow missed at the back post.
Rice was a particular underperformer with a whole host of set pieces not finding a man in red.
The club’s record signing wasn’t the worst performer though, far from it. Gabriel Martinelli had a rough old time of it against Tino Livramento with the Newcastle full-back losing just one of his eight duels in the contest.
Leandro Trossard also let his manager down with a toothless display that failed to inspire his team. The Belgian has found life difficult of late, charged with filling the void left behind by Martin Odegaard with the Norwegian still on the treatment table.
The former Brighton man was terrible in possession on Tyneside, giving away the ball on 12 occasions and failing to create a single goalscoring opportunity.
That meant that the likes of Saka, Martinelli and Kai Havertz were feeding off scraps.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
Kai Havertz’s performance in numbers
A year ago the £65m signing was just getting his Arsenal career off the ground.
It took Havertz 13 league games to find the back of the net from open play and since then he has gone from strength to strength.
Initially signed with the hope of replacing Granit Xhaka, it’s been as a striker where the German has thrived, scoring seven goals from that role already in 2024/25.
Havertz was particularly poor as a midfielder but this felt like one of his most ineffective games yet as a centre forward in this Arsenal side, registering fewer touches (29) than even goalkeeper David Raya (37).
Yes, he was starved of service, but he ultimately failed to set the world alight with many of his actions during the course of his 90 minutes on the pitch.
You could blame Arteta’s tactics and you could blame Havertz himself but either way he was desperately poor against the Magpies on Saturday. Handed a 3/10 match rating by GOAL’s Gill Clarke, it was a performance in which ‘he never looked like scoring’ according to the reporter.
Minutes played
90
Touches
29
Accurate passes
14/17 (82%)
Key passes
1
Crosses
0/1
Shots
0
Ground duels won
2/6
Aerial duels won
0/4
Possession lost
7x
Fouls
3
Clearances
2
Interceptions
1
Tackles
1
That wasn’t helped by the German dropping deep or into the right-hand channels, rather than playing on the edge of the central defenders.
As such, he didn’t have a single shot in the game and only produced one key pass. If that wasn’t bad enough, the former Chelsea star only won two of his ten duels. He’s usually a tough battler but this was the polar opposite of what we’ve come to expect.
Truth be told, Havertz looked dead on his feet come full-time. He tried, he really did, but ultimately it was perhaps his worst performance as a striker.
A rest may well be due against Inter on Wednesday. Is it time to see what Gabriel Jesus made of? Quite possibly.
Fewer passes than Raya: Arteta must instantly drop 4/10 dud after Newcastle
Arsenal suffered another defeat on the road this weekend.
1 ByMatt Dawson
