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#3 Granit Xhaka
Arsenal fans seem to share a love-hate relationship with Granit Xhaka. He has often been hailed as a gifted central midfielder, but has also been subjected to heavy criticism following unconvincing performances.
Against Everton, the Swiss international failed to make a case for himself and cut a frustrating figure in the middle of the park.
Xhaka operated as a double pivot alongside Thomas Partey. He sat on the left side of midfield, hoping to penetrate Everton with his long balls.
Unfortunately, his distribution was well below par and posed no threat to the Evertonian defense. Out of his seven attempted long balls, none reached their intended target. He made no key passes and lost possession a whopping 18 times.
Defensively, too, he was far from imposing. He won only four duels, completed two clearances, and was even dribbled past once in the match.
#2 Thomas Partey
Unlike Xhaka, Thomas Partey took some liberty with his positioning. He ventured further up the pitch at times and tried to lend the Arsenal attackers a helping hand.
Sadly, Partey’s adventures were far too predictable and were easily dealt with by the hosts.
Partey saw only two of his seven long-ball attempts reach their destinations. He also did not create any goalscoring opportunities and lost possession 14 times over the 90 minutes.
Partey’s physicality also did him no favors in the middle, as Everton comfortably brushed his challenges aside. The Ghana international won only five of his 14 duels, which is abysmal by his standards.
#1 Alexandre Lacazette
Frustrated with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ineffectiveness in front of goal, Mikel Arteta chose Alexandre Lacazette to lead the Arsenal line against Everton on Monday.
As expected, Lacazette dropped deep to get a feel for the ball and tried to contribute to Arsenal’s build-up. Surprisingly, he forgot to do the one thing Arsenal desperately needed him to do, keep Everton keeper Jordan Pickford busy.
Lacazette operated more as a central midfielder than an attacker. Most of his touches were around the middle of the park and he rarely took up his original role.
The Frenchman failed to dispatch a single shot against Everton on Monday, let alone keeping one on target.
He also made no key passes, did not attempt even a single cross, and was dispossessed a total of five times.
Overall, it was an atrocious display by the former Lyon man, one which utterly disrespected the faith Arteta showed in him.
