No case for this Arsenal defence
LIKE predecessor Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery seems to be in denial about the capabilities of Arsenal’s defence. After his endorsement of Shkodran Mustafi — and if anyone tells you Paul Pogba must be a great player because he’s got a World Cup winner’s medal, don’t forget Mustafi has one, too — comes the suggestion his players performed well against Leicester, and a sending-off changed the game. Even with 11 on the field Arsenal looked second-best to Leicester and this run of three defeats conceding three goals in each game is their worst since 1965-66. That season, Arsenal finished 14th, however, and lost 17 of their 42 league games. As a member of the Premier League elite, given all the advantages of scale and financial power, the modern Arsenal should never leak three goals in three straight games; and certainly not to Wolves, Leicester and Crystal Palace. Arsenal have now lost eight away games this season, the poorest record of any team in the top half, bar Everton. This should not surprise. In Emery’s final season at Sevilla — the one in which they defeated Liverpool to win a third consecutive Europa League title — they did not win away in La Liga all season. Now, if Emery can do that with a very strong Sevilla team, what price with Arsenal’s defence?