Stoke City 1-0 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points, Premier League 2017/18

3) Welbeck wasteful, Lacazette forced to feed on scraps

Danny Welbeck was far from clinical against Stoke City

With 77.3% of possession in the game, Arsenal had 18 shots on goal in 90 minutes. Only six were on target, all blocked without giving Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland too much to worry about.

Danny Welbeck, playing on the left of Alexandre Lacazette, was the most wasteful among the lot. The English striker first had a chance to square the ball to Lacazette but instead took a shot from a very narrow angle, allowing Butland to stand tall and make the save.

In the second half, Welbeck had the chance to equalise with a header where he was completely unchallenged but the ball ended up coming off his shoulder to go over the bar.

77.3% - This was the highest possession figure that Arsenal have had in a single Premier League match since 2003-04 (77.3%). Defeated. pic.twitter.com/VnvZYv68Ys

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 19, 2017

In contrast, Lacazette was dropping deep to link up play and making some intelligent passes to get his teammates into better positions to attack. But when it came to finding him in the box, those incisive passes were non-existent.

The one time he did get a shot on goal (thanks to Olivier Giroud), he found the top corner with ease. But the linesman's flag was up for offside and replays proved it was a very controversial call as he was marginally onside.

"It was a goal. 100%. It wasn't offside at all, not even his foot. It was a detail that didn't go our way." - Wenger