Internazionale 1-0 Arsenal
When Martin Odegaard came on as a substitute at San Siro, the sigh of relief from Arsenal fans around the world was almost audible. But what if he isn’t the answer to their goalscoring problems?
A 1-0 defeat to Internazionale was Arsenal’s third blank in their last six matches in all competitions. Preston North End, in the EFL Cup, are the only team the Gunners have scored against away from home since September’s 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
At least Arsenal created chances at San Siro, especially in the second half. Indeed, they had 20 shots against Inter, their most without scoring in a Champions League match since the 0-0 draw with CSKA Moscow in November 2006.
Arsenal shots v Internazionale
Contentious penalty decisions at both ends decided the result, but Arsenal should still qualify despite this setback. More significant in the grand scheme of things was their wastefulness in front of goal, with Kai Havertz’s glaring miss in the 74th minute being the stand-out example.
While the defence has stood out, appeals for a new No 9 might be about to ramp up again. After four matches – including three against arguably their most difficult opponents, in Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter – Arsenal have the lowest non-penalty Expected Goals (xG) allowed in the Champions League.
Odegaard’s return won’t necessarily solve this issue. Appeals for a new No 9 might be about to ramp up again.
Odegaard’s return can reignite Arsenal’s title challenge
With that said, Mikel Arteta is defiant and believes his side will step up when they visit Chelsea this Sunday, as Arsenal look to make up lost ground in the title race.
“[If] the team plays the way we played tonight here, we can go to Chelsea [and] we can win.”
See: Arsenal’s report and line-up
Aston Villa experiencing creativity issues as defeats add up
Club Brugge 1-0 Aston Villa
Aston Villa are in a relatively similar situation to Arsenal, with one major difference: there is no Odegaard figure to come in and boost their creativity.
Club Brugge were comfortable on Wednesday night. Villa managed just a single shot on target and their joint-lowest xG of the season (0.4) as they were defeated for the third consecutive game in all competitions.
With that run of losses being preceded by a 1-1 draw at home to AFC Bournemouth, this is Villa’s worst spell of form since Unai Emery’s appointment.
The visitors simply could not thread the ball through midfield, where their passing was easily shut down by Club Brugge’s biting press.
What should particularly worry Villa fans was a lack of options on the bench.
Jhon Duran was brought on to partner Watkins in a 4-4-2 which, as in the 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, simply disconnected the forwards from the midfielders, before Emiliano Buendia came on to little effect.
Buendia had just 13 touches and completed only five of his eight attempted passes, giving him the lowest pass-completion rate (62.5 per cent) of anyone on the pitch who attempted five or more.
Buendia passes v Club Brugge
Key: Black – successful passes, Yellow – unsuccessful passes
Solving Villa’s emerging chance-creation problem is the biggest challenge of the Emery era so far. What he’d give to have a player like Arsenal captain Odegaard ready to return and intervene.
See: Villa’s report and line-up
Thursday’s European fixtures for PL clubs
17:45 GMT Galatasaray v Spurs (Europa League)
20:00 GMT Man Utd v PAOK (Europa League)
20:00 GMT Chelsea v Noah (Conference League)
