Bournemouth couldn’t have given a better Double Gameweek 33 audition as they derailed Arsenal’s title push on Saturday.
The Cherries produced a bold performance away at an agitated Emirates, extending their unbeaten league run to 12 matches.
Here are our Scout Notes from the early kick-off.
NO FURTHER FORWARD ON SAKA OR TIMBER AS TWO MORE MISS OUT
Bukayo Saka (£9.8m) and Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) were unavailable again for Arsenal on Saturday. The two haven’t featured for the Gunners since before the March international break and had been missing from training in the run-up to Gameweek 32, while Friday’s tease from Mikel Arteta turned out to be a red herring.
Two others who weren’t seen by the cameras on Thursday, Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) and Martin Odegaard (£7.8m), were also absent.
In fact, the only player who did recover – bar Eberechi Eze (£7.2m), who we knew would feature – was Piero Hincapie (£5.1m), and even he was only fit enough to be on the bench. The left-back didn’t make it onto the field, either.
Arteta spoke about some of the absences ahead of kick-off.
“Ricci was not available today. Piero, he’s just come back from injury. He’s done so well to be in early contention to play and Myles is obviously a top player.” – Mikel Arteta on why Myles Lewis-Skelly was starting at left-back
“He had a little niggle during the midweek game, and he wasn’t available for today.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard
In his post-match press conference, the Arsenal boss couldn’t offer much more.
“No, and on Martin [Odegaard] as well, no. Bukayo Saka, neither. We don’t have an update yet.” – Mikel Arteta, when asked if there was any update on Riccardo Calafiori and the other absentees
You could sense Arteta’s desperation later in the presser.
“First of all, we need everybody, fit and available. So, the ones that are not involved, the ones that are not with us, that are really big, important players, we need them immediately with us, because then we’re going to be much stronger. And then, the other ones, we need to stand up.” – Mikel Arteta
We’ll hear from Arteta again on Tuesday, ahead of the rematch with Sporting the following day.
If we fail to get any team news clarification before, during or after the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg, you can’t imagine Gunners’ head coach is going to be an open book ahead of the huge clash against the title rivals in Gameweek 33.
SET-PLAY CHANCES… AND LITTLE ELSE
The injuries aren’t helping at present. Ben White (£5.1m) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (£5.3m) simply aren’t a patch on the first-choice full-backs. Kai Havertz (£7.3m) in midfield just isn’t working. Noni Madueke (£6.8m) lacks the consistency of Saka, and was hooked in the 54th minute here.
But in truth, Arsenal’s performances have been mostly turgid since the beginning of March, and (overly) reliant on their undoubted strengths at the rear.
Saturday’s display was another one that was lacking in intensity and energy, with the hosts irking their own support with some tentative play.
The Opta xG said 2.41-1.20 in Arsenal’s favour, which suggests they were unlucky to lose. Perhaps that’s true, to an extent.
But, as the above image shows, just 0.19 of that xG came from open play.
Yes, penalties and set-piece goals count just as much as those from regulation play. But when the ball just won’t drop in from a corner or free-kick, what else have you got in your locker?
Not a lot, was Arsenal’s answer on Saturday. It’s been the case for a while.
Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres (£8.8m) wasted excellent chances from set plays, while Gyokeres’ penalty – which, typically, was awarded after a set piece – accounted for a big chunk of the xG. Declan Rice (£7.3m), the only one who looked like doing anything, was unlucky not to pick up an assist when Havertz nodded over.
Other than that, it’s difficult to think of any notable chances that didn’t stem from a dead-ball situation.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.2m) remains a desirable asset. He won the penalty when his shot forced a handball, is a constant threat from set plays, and was only denied a very likely goal by a last-ditch tackle. The defence will be a strong suit again, with Hincapie back and when Timber returns.
Anyone further forward is way off the radar at present.
IRAOLA ON GOING BOLD + PLAYING KROUPI AS A ’10’
All hail Bournemouth, though, and the latest entry in their 12-match unbeaten run.
They pressed brilliantly, defended outstandingly (especially from open play) and, while they didn’t have oodles of chances, looked dangerous when they did come forward, which Arsenal didn’t.
A performance full of ambition was set in motion by Andoni Iraola. He could, understandably, have gone conservative with his team selection against the league leaders. Instead, he went the opposite way and made it more attacking, bringing in Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.7m) in the ’10’ instead of going with three central midfielders.
Iraola explained his selection after full-time.
“It has been a difficult decision, actually, because he has been training really well this week but I thought we really needed this third midfielder. But we’ve asked him to do this job and to act, ‘Okay, you are playing, but you have to be a midfielder and you have to do your job and you have to recover the recovery runs for the second balls and do all the defensive jobs that a number 10… is going to do. You have to do all this, even if you are a striker.
“And after, in exchange, we can put you in good positions. If he receives chances along the box, he’s going to score goals because that is inside him.
“But I appreciate the job he’s doing. So, he can play almost as a midfielder or second striker and very, very happy for him.” – Andoni Iraola on Eli Junior Kroupi
It worked wonders, as Kroupi showed his striker’s instincts to put Bournemouth 1-0 up. He nearly got a second, only for Gabriel to block his shot.
The budget forward hasn’t started weekend/midweek in the league all season, so two starts in Double Gameweek 33 might be a tall order.
Bournemouth do, at least, have one of the best turnaround times in the next Gameweek, and no fixture at the weekend beyond it:
SCOTT’S PURPLE PATCH CONTINUES AS DEFENCE EXCELS YET AGAIN
This wasn’t really a match to judge the likes of Rayan (£5.5m) and Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m). They played their parts in a superb collective display but they weren’t heavily involved in the goalmouth action, each registering 0.06 xGI. They’ll surely see, and create, more chances in the matches ahead.
Saturday very much was a further endorsement of the defence, however, despite the clean sheet loss. They were solid at the back, with James Hill (£4.2m) having yet another superb game. Both he and Marcos Senesi (£5.1m) banked DefCon points.
So too did Alex Scott (£5.2m). A midfielder making a run for Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, he’s gone from early-sub candidate to first name on the teamsheet. He’s now completed 90 minutes in 12 successive Gameweeks.
Despite Saturday’s goal, DefCon points are still likelier to arrive than attacking returns. He’s met the defensive contributions threshold in eight of those dozen aforementioned games (and was close in two others):
The match-winning strike was only his third goal of the season. However, it’s worth mentioning that his goal came after Tyler Adams (£4.9m) came on. The introduction of Adams, a natural ‘six’, allowed Scott to push a little further forward, and he ran through to latch onto Evanilson‘s (£6.7m) flick to seal the victory.
We might see Scott’s rate of chances increase in the run-in, then, when Adams re-establishes himself in the side. You wouldn’t want it to adversely affect his DefCon returns, of course!
