UEFA Europa League 2019/20: 3 reasons why Arsenal drew with Vitoria SC

#3 Arsenal were completely devoid of creativity

Arsenal struggled for creativity and only had one shot on target in the entire game

To say this was an under-par performance from Arsenal would be an understatement; even if the game had ended 0-1, the pressure on boss Unai Emery would not have been relieved due to the nature of the match. The Gunners managed just 7 shots across the 95 minutes of play and Shkodran Mustafi’s goal was their only attempt on target.

Emery set up in a 3-4-3 formation, with a defence of Rob Holding, Sokratis and Mustafi behind a midfield of Kieran Tierney, Dani Ceballos, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, with the trio of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe up front.

The idea appeared to be for Arsenal to attack through the wide areas of the pitch, with Ceballos and Willock providing the passes, but this didn’t work at all; the lack of bite in midfield left the Gunners’ back line exposed at times with Holding in particular struggling on the left side of defence.

To compound matters, Saka and Tierney were completely unable to link up on the left, while Maitland-Niles also struggled on the right, meaning that Arsenal had very little in the way of creativity and Martinelli was left chasing shadows.

Not to play down the level of Portugal’s Primeira Liga, but a Premier League team chasing a Champions League spot should be able to deal comfortably with a side like Vitoria, and the fact that they didn’t should be pretty damning for Emery.

At this stage of the season he ought to have some idea of his best XI and that just doesn’t appear to be the case. As pundit Martin Keown stated post-match, these are worrying times for Arsenal fans.