Our Arsenal week 20 match review discusses Arsenal’s visit to Goodison Park to play Everton. Unfortunately, Arsenal suffered their second Premier League defeat in this match, losing 1-0 to Everton due to a second-half goal from James Tarkowski. The overall performance was quite poor and the Gunners will need to bounce back immediately at home against Brentford. Thankfully, Manchester City also lost 1-0 to Tottenham, so Arsenal’s five-point lead at the top of the Premier League remains intact. Let’s get into the week 20 match review.

Arsenal Week 20 Match Review: The Positives

One thing that Arsenal did do well in this match was creating chances. The Gunners were able to maneuver through Everton’s defense on multiple occasions and created goal-scoring opportunities. Odegaard played a large part in this, despite not having a great game overall.

Additionally, Arsenal also dominated possession in this game. The Gunners ended up with 71% possession in this match, which is even more significant than the usual edge in possession that Arsenal usually enjoys. Due to this amount of possession, Everton were limited to only 4 shots on goal in the entire match.

Arsenal’s discipline was also good in this match, despite it being a physical game. Zinchenko was the only Arsenal player to pick up a yellow card in this match. As a result, the Gunners don’t have any worries about player suspensions due to excessive yellow cards ahead of their next match at home against Brentford.

Gabriel and Zinchenko had good games. Everton’s goal wasn’t due to a mistake by either one of them. Additionally, both of them played with more composure overall than many other Arsenal players in this match.

Arsenal Week 20 Match Review: The Negatives

Arsenal Lacked Composure and Physicality

There were plenty of negatives for Arsenal in this match. The team seemed rattled, especially in the first half. Everton played with energy and purpose throughout the match and the Everton supporters fed off of that. This lack of composure led to several chances for Everton to score the opening goal in the first half, although Everton did not manage to do so.

Arsenal also failed to match the physicality of Everton. Teams under Sean Dyche’s management are known to be physical and this was certainly the case for Everton in this match. The Gunners were often outmuscled by Everton all over the pitch.

Arsenal Gave Away Possession Too Much

Additionally, Arsenal also gave away possession far too often. The entire team was guilty of this, but Martinelli repeatedly gave away possession on the left wing of Arsenal’s attack. This created chances for Everton to hit Arsenal on the counter-attack and disrupted the Gunners’ attack throughout the match.

Arsenal Week 20 Match Review: Arsenal’s Midfield Underperformed

Partey, Odegaard, and Xhaka all struggled in this match. Partey didn’t provide the back four with the protection he usually does, gave away possession on several occasions, and was substituted for Jorginho in the second half. Xhaka also failed to make much of an impact, as well.

Odegaard had quite a poor game. Despite creating some chances for Arsenal, particularly in the first half, he struggled to cope with the physicality of the match. As a result, he gave away possession on multiple occasions and was substituted for Fabio Vieira in the second half. Odegaard has had a terrific season overall, but this was perhaps his worst game so far this season.

Ben White Had A Poor Game Once Again

Ben White had another poor game. He did overlap with Saka on the right side relatively well, but his defending and composure on the ball was uninspiring. White has had two poor games in a row now, so it may be best for him not to start against Brentford.

Eddie Nketiah Was Wasteful in Front of Goal

Nketiah also didn’t play too well. He got himself into some promising positions, but he wasted several good chances to score and that cost Arsenal dearly in the second half. He lacked his usual composure in front of goal and struggled overall in this match.

Manager Rating: 6

Arteta didn’t prepare the team well for this challenge. The team lacked composure overall, especially in the first half. The Gunners also did not come prepared to handle Everton’s physicality either, which Arteta should have anticipated after having managed against Sean Dyche’s Burnley last season. Arteta’s choice to stick with Ben White at right-back didn’t really work out, either. Finally, Arteta’s subs, while relatively sensible, failed to make much of an impact.

Arsenal Plays Brentford Next

The Gunners were fortunate that Manchester City also lost, meaning their five-point lead over Manchester City remains intact. Still, Arsenal will need to bounce back with a win against Brentford at home to avoid giving Manchester City another opportunity to decrease the gap in the title race. The Gunners went on a long unbeaten run following their first Premier League defeat of the season, so I would hope that happens again. I’d bet on Arsenal beating Brentford, since Arsenal have already beaten Brentford and remain undefeated at the Emirates in the Premier League this season.

Check back next week for more Arsenal content.