Paul Merson has been speaking about Arsenal on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, and he has one concern about the Gunners.
What’s the story?
Well, things are going very well for Mikel Arteta right now.
Arsenal are currently five points clear at the top of the Premier League, and are well placed to reach the Europa League Quarter-Final as they take a 2-2 against Sporting Lisbon back to the Emirates Stadium.
However, Merson still has one “worry” – the amount of goals Arsenal are conceding.
The Gunners have let in 11 goals across their last eight outings in all competitions.
Speaking about Arsenal’s fragility at the back in recent weeks, Merson said: “My worry would be, 11 goals in eight games they’ve let in. They play one way, Arsenal, they have a go, they open it up, they play free-flowing football, and they’ve probably been getting punished.”
If the goals start to dry up from the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal need their defence to step up – they cannot continue to be so generous at the back.
Merson is right to worry about Arsenal
Two recent games in particular where the Gunners looked very flimsy at the back was the 4-2 win over Aston Villa and the 3-2 victory against Bournemouth.
Yes, Arsenal picked up maximum points from those outings, but both required late winners, something Arteta cannot expect his side to keep doing – it is imperative that things are tightened up at the back.
Of course, goals win games, but defences tend to win silverware.
Arteta would surely prefer to see his side pick up 1-0 wins more often than coming out on top of goalfests such as the aforementioned two games.
Hopefully, if the Spaniard does attempt to tighten his side up, it doesn’t have a negative impact on the beautiful attacking football he has Arsenal playing right now.
In other news, ‘Absolute star’: Darwin Nunez says Liverpool teammate ‘just another thing’
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