Arsenal: 4 players who have let them down this season

Arsenal are in serious danger of missing out on a top 4 finish again

With over a half a season gone, we find Arsenal sitting 6th on the Premier League table, well off the pace compared to the other top 6 sides. The Gunners have struggled after Christmas, winning only once in six matches across all competitions.

The team has already been eliminated from the FA Cup and their League Cup campaign could also reach its end next week as they take on Chelsea in the second leg of the semi-finals. In the league, Arsenal are eight points adrift from a top 4 finish.

Not playing in the Champions League should've been a big plus for Arsenal regarding their league ambitions, but instead, they are in danger of finishing outside the top four again.

Here are 4 players who have let Arsenal down this season:

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#4 Petr Cech

Petr Cech is having a very poor season by his standards

Petr Cech was a real coup for Arsenal in 2015 after the Czech goalkeeper was deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea following the arrival of Thibaut Courtois. The club hadn't had a strong figure between the pipes ever since David Seaman called it a day.

Cech had a great debut season at Arsenal, recording 16 clean sheets, the joint-best in the league. The second year wasn't bad either with a saves percentage of 75.5, only bettered by Tottenham's Hugo Lloris (76.5 percent).

However, one of the greatest goalkeepers in Premier League history has struggled this season. His saves percentage is only at 62.2, which is the sixth-worst in the league among goalkeepers who have played at least ten games.

He's been on the cusp of becoming the first Premier League goalkeeper with 200 clean sheets but hasn't managed to do it for a while.

Cech has conceded ten goals in five games since having the first shot at the 200th clean sheet against Liverpool on 22 December. On average, he's allowed 1.3 goals per game this season. It's a very lowly mark, considering that the top goalkeepers are all allowing less than one goal per game.

During his two and a half seasons at the club, Cech has also failed to save any of the 15 penalties he has faced, diving the wrong way 12 times. That's a very worrying stat for a team that's conceded the most number of penalties in the league since the start of the 2016/17 campaign.

#3 Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka has played a lot of minutes for Arsenal but hasn't been effective

Cech and Hector Bellerin are the only players in the Arsenal squad who have played all the minutes so far in the Premier League. We find a surprising name just after them. It's Granit Xhaka. He's missed only 74 minutes of action, even though he's been poor all season.

A lot was expected from the Swiss international when he arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach for a fee around £30-35 million. It's his second season at the club, but he has yet to justify the big price tag.

Xhaka is a talented midfielder and he certainly has had his moments over the course of his time at the Emirates, but mostly, he's been a disappointment. His defensive awareness leaves a lot to be desired and he doesn't offer much going forward either.

The 25-year-old currently has more yellow cards (5) than goals and assists combined (4). He's won only 1.7 tackles and recorded one interception per game. To put things into perspective, even Kevin de Bruyne has been a better tackler with 1.8 tackles per game and he is not a defensive midfielder.

Getting a lot of game time should help Xhaka improve his game as he's still a relatively young player, but he hasn't developed much during his time in England. Compared to last season, you can only praise him for cutting down on red cards.

Jack Wilshere has been in good form lately and Aaron Ramsey has just returned from injury. Playing them together in midfield instead of favouring Xhaka should be the way to go until the end of the season.

#2 Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette last scored a goal at the start of December

Arsenal spent a reported club record fee of around €53 million to get Alexandre Lacazette. For that kind of money, you'd expect to get a consistent goalscorer, who'll be among the league's best at the end of the season. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for Arsenal with Lacazette.

The 26-year-old French striker got off to a great start, becoming the first Arsenal player since 1988 to score in his first three home matches. It took him only 94 seconds to get his first one in a 4-3 thriller against Leicester City. But he's completely cooled off after a hot start.

Lacazette last scored a goal for the Gunners on December 2nd, in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United. That was also a home game. As a matter of fact, the former Lyon man has scored just two of his eight goals away from home. Though, as noted, for more than a month now, it hasn't mattered if he's playing at home or on the road - the goals simply aren't coming.

The man, who finished off his Ligue 1 career by getting three consecutive seasons with 20+ goals, hasn't found the net in nine appearances. He's played the full 90 minutes in seven of them.

He's registered 17 shots, seven on target, since the United game. Lacazette also has only three assists to his name this season. He's offered very little offensively and looks like a very expensive flop at the moment.

#1 Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez has been bad for Arsenal this season both on and off the pitch

Looks like Alexis Sanchez is set to join Manchester United in the January transfer window, but he's still an Arsenal player and owing to that, he's also responsible for the team's poor showings this season.

Firstly, Alexis is at fault for letting his contract situation get to the point where it is now. It has caused problems in the dressing room and has adversely affected the team's morale and their general game.

Secondly, his personal performances have been far from good enough. He bagged 24 league goals and racked up 30 in all competitions last season, while also having ten Premier League assists. A good chunk of Arsenal's 77 goals came by either Alexis scoring them himself or setting up others.

This season, it took Alexis six league appearances before finally getting his first goal on 22nd October. He had also got only one assist before that. A run of goals in three consecutive games followed, but his contribution is still far off from that of last season - only seven goals and three assists in 19 league matches.

Sanchez leaving Arsenal could end up being a positive thing for both parties. He gets the chance to join a better team and Arsenal will get rid of a dressing room cancer, who hasn't been at his best so far this season.

Also, the team will have a chance to inject some new energy into the side with winter transfers, and maybe with Lacazette now becoming the main man up front, he can start to show the quality expected from a €50-million-plus striker.