Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge was plain to see on Saturday.
The Gunners dominated their visit to Southampton yesterday but still returned to North London with a 1-0 defeat despite.
Fraser Forster pulled off a number of brilliant saves to keep out Arsenal but, really, the visitors were lacking a killer instinct in front of goal.
Alexandre Lacazette could hardly be attributed with being a hitman this season, having only scored two Premier League goals from open play.
But the French attacker, who has the coronavirus, was a major miss up front at St Mary’s.
Arsenal now have a potentially season-defining week ahead of them, visiting Chelsea in midweek and then hosting Manchester United next Saturday.
However, Arteta couldn’t confirm whether Lacazette, his £46 million captain, will be available.
Asked whether the 30-year-old will be back in action by then, Arteta said via the Standard: “It will depend whether he is negative and whether he is feeling better and his symptoms are gone, and he’s available to play.”
And although he hasn’t been a huge player on the pitch this season in terms of scoring goals, he’s an important figure – not to mention the club captain – and he’ll certainly be a major miss if he can’t face Chelsea.
That’s because Eddie Nketiah doesn’t seem up to the task of spearheading the Gunners’ attack and if he starts again at Stamford Bridge, it’s just so difficult to see Arsenal – who already have Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu sidelined – getting anything.
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