Arsenal continues to suffer personnel losses in defense due to injuries, but the more worrying problem at this time lies in the attacking front. The 2-1 victory over Brighton is just the latest cut of their familiar trend. The Gunners wasted opportunities to the point of almost putting themselves in a risky position.
Previously, Arsenal had to use a penalty shootout to eliminate Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup after letting Marc Guehi score the late equalizer. They also needed Yerson Mosquera's own goal in injury time to overcome Wolves. And against Brighton, goalkeeper David Raya was forced to create an excellent save to prevent Yankuba Minteh from bringing the match back to balance.
The point worth mentioning is that those situations occurred even though Arsenal had a clear advantage in all 3 matches. They scored a total of 65 shots against Brighton, Palace and Wolves, but only scored 5 goals. Among them, 4 goals came from opposing players and Georginio Rutter was the latest name to make mistakes.
Coach Mikel Arteta praised the quality of the performance against Brighton, emphasizing that the team "overwhelmed both individually and collectively". However, the advantage of the game will not be enough to guarantee long-term if Arsenal does not improve the efficiency of opportunity conversion. This is the key point, because while the "Gunners" continuously make things difficult for themselves, Manchester City shows a difference in finishing. They are only 2 points behind Arsenal but have scored more than 10 goals.
Viktor Gyokeres continues to face difficulties when he has only scored 5 goals in the Premier League this season. Stepping into 2026, the pressure will only be greater for Gyokeres, who needs to make a clear difference soon with performance and specific impact on the attacking front.
After making his mark at the Championship and Portuguese national championship since leaving Brighton, the Swedish striker raised many questions. Is he the "offer" that the "Seagull" has missed? Especially in the context that Brighton is often highly appreciated for its recruitment and player development capacity.
However, Arsenal's problem at this time does not lie with an individual. They are lacking sharpness like a team's ability - from the quality of shots, situation selection to the decision-making rhythm in the penalty area.
If a solution is not found soon, the gap between dominance and finishing will be the decisive factor whether they stand firm or lose momentum in the championship race.
The way the players are playing and achieving results in this dense schedule, despite the injuries we have experienced, is amazing. We will need everyone's energy. Soon we will unite to fight and win again" - Arteta said.
In the next round, Arsenal will host Aston Villa at home at Emirates. This promises to be a difficult match for the "Gunners" as their opponent is in very high form and has also just defeated Chelsea.
