“100% duels lost, 8 times possession lost, 5 times dribbled past”- Mikel Arteta blasts Arsenal’s shaky player who was very terrible and disastrous last night and cost Arsenal the 3 points against Lens

Arsenal: Gunners ‘liability’ who lost 100% duels has let Arteta down

Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season against RC Lens with a host of players being below par for the Gunners

Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the 2023/24 campaign came to a premature end, as Mikel Arteta’s side were defeated 2-1 by RC Lens in the second fixture of the Champions League group stage.

History repeated itself when it came to the Gunners’ luck against the French outfit, adding salt to the wounds of the 1998/99 season in which the north Londoners suffered a loss and a draw against Lens in the tournament that term.

It was a night to forget for the Premier League side, who dominated 67% of possession to no avail, as the hosts had an answer to Gabriel Jesus’ first-half opener and more.

How did Arsenal play against Lens?

Despite having the majority of the ball and registering six shots on target to Lens’ three, it was Franck Haise’s squad that took three points from the affair, thanks to goals from Adrien Thomasson and Elye Wahi.

Thomasson’s spectacular curling strike cancelled out Jesus’ 14th-minute opener, in what was a moment that played a significant part in goalkeeper David Raya’s terrible Sofascore match rating of just 6.3.

The Spaniard gave the ball away needlessly to allow the hosts to equalise, with the mistake not taking anything away from the Frenchman’s expertly crafted finish.

Since arriving on loan from Brentford, the Barcelona-born shot-stopper has been promoted to Arteta’s number one, with tonight marking perhaps the first questionable performance that the 28-year-old has played while representing the Gunners.

Ending the game with a mediocre pass completion rate of 80%, Raya completed just three out of his 12 attempted long balls and recorded -0.79 goals prevented, making just one save in the tie.

Football.London journalist Kaya Kaynak gave the Brentford loanee a match rating of just 5/10, however, he wasn’t the only player to receive such a poor rating from Kaynak.

How did Oleksandr Zinchenko play against Lens?

Also scoring a 5/10 match rating from football.London was Oleksandr Zinchenko, who had his performance dubbed as “horrible” by writer Lewis Ambrose.

Ambrose criticised the Ukrainian for giving the ball away “so often”, which was a fair analysis as the former Manchester City defender lost possession eight times and failed to complete a single dribble attempt, via Sofascore.

It’s not an unusual area of critique that the 26-year-old is summoned to, as supported by his average of losing possession 7.8 times per game so far this term in the Premier League, seeing his defensive work branded as a “liability” by This Week in Arsenal podcaster @ltarsenal.

One element of Zinchenko’s game that was celebratory was his passing ability, as showcased by his pass completion rate of 91% during the game, although the Ukraine international was too often caught far from his unoccupied space at left-back.

In his post-match ratings for football.london, Kaynak described the four-time Premier League winner as being ‘sucked out of position far too easily’, a habit that inevitably allowed Lens to play into space for their winner. What also didn’t help was his lack of physicality, losing 100% of his duels.

The most daunting part for the Gunners isn’t the performance or defeat, but the injury blow to Bukayo Saka who could be set for a spell on the sidelines ahead of Arteta’s side’s huge matchup against Manchester City on Sunday.

It’ll be interesting to see if Zinchenko is selected to line up against his former club, after displaying a woeful performance in France that contributed to Arsenal’s first defeat of the season.