Arsenal 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur: 3 reasons why the Gunners lost | Carabao Cup 2018-19 

Dele Alli was in full form as Tottenham Hotspur made life difficult for Arsenal in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup. After setting up Son Heung-Min’s first-half goal, Alli himself scored a brilliant one in the second half to take the match away from the Gunners. Arsenal, whose 22-game unbeaten run came to a halt in their defeat to Southampton, suffered their second defeat in 4 days.

After realizing that they were being outnumbered in the midfield, Unai Emery brought Laurent Koscielny for Mkhitaryan in the second half but Arsenal failed to create many clear-cut chances.

Mauricio Pochettino, whose future is the talking point in media after the vacant position at Manchester United again proved his tactical astuteness and showed that he has learnt a lot from the North London derby which Spurs lost a few weeks back.

Here are the three reasons why Arsenal lost a chance to go to the semifinals of the Carabao Cup.

#1 Tottenham had better depth in their squad

Mkhitaryan's shot is saved by Gazzaniga

Unai Emery is dealing with a lot of injury issues and the squad is not a big one for Arsenal. The last few matches have been a nightmare for the defenders. Granit Xhaka was left exposed again after being played out of position. The 4-man defence in the first half was not the first choice one and the lack of confidence in playing out from back showed time and again.

In the first half itself, Dele Alli gave a lot of scary moments to Xhaka and it was always going to be a long night for the Swiss. The only shining light for Arsenal was the performance of Ramsey who looked fresh after the injury layoff.

When Spurs brought on Harry Kane in the second half, it showed Pochettino’s intentions to go for the kill which really paid off. Even on defence where the likes of Xhaka and Sokratisstruggled, Alderweireld and Davies turned out to be rather good.

#2 Lack of creativity from Torreira and Guendouzi

Guezdouzi struggled to influence the game

When Arsenal defeated Spurs in the Premier League match a few weeks back, it was due to their dominance in the midfield. Xhaka and Torreira complement each other very well and the partnership between Torreira and Guendouzi never looked threatening as they kept on passing sideways instead of dictating the forward play.

Both the midfielders looked a bit hurried as Xhaka’s calmness on the ball in midfield was dearly missed. Xhaka has the calming influence where he takes time and plays the perfect pass, which is not the core quality of either Torreira or Guendouzi who are more action-oriented in running and tackling.

Both have a great future with Arsenal, but playing together doesn’t seem to benefit Unai Emery’s team and Emery should look for other options while playing players out of position. Emery could have played Ramsey in the midfield but he has not done so the whole season, which shows that some amount of tactical flexibility is always good for the team.

#3 Centre-back struggles

Arsenal lacked pace in defence

That the Gunners are suffering from injuries is very well known. Sokratis’ return was a positive sign for Arsenal, but they had a makeshift defence and it backfired against a fast counter attacking Spurs team.

There was no reason for Unai Emery to start with a back four after playing the whole season with a back three. It was only in the second half when he brought on Koscielny for Mkhitaryan that the balance of the team looked good.

Arsenal lacked pace in defence which was continuously exposed by Son and Alli. Sokratis, Monreal, and Xhaka are not the fastest ones and it showed in this match. Emery has to look for more creative solutions rather than just using Xhaka everywhere.