Arsenal were held to a disappointing draw in Brighton on Boxing Day, despite taking an early lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Aubameyang could’ve had three goals in the first half, forcing a couple of great saves from Brighton goalkeeper Mathew Ryan as well as the effort he did score. However, Arsenal’s opponents came back into the match thanks to a long-ball and an individual error, and then Unai Emery’s early substitutions backfired on him.

Emery took off Mesut Özil at half-time to change formation, but Brighton made just as many chances after the break, whilst Arsenal had just one shot to their six in the opening period. That one shot came from Alexandre Lacazette, and after he went off too the team didn’t have any chances at all.

The only positive is that Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira came through without yellow cards, and neither of them will be suspended for the match against Liverpool at Anfield.

Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Bernd Leno 6

It seems like we say this almost every game now, but there was little Leno could do about the goal he conceded. He had the long ball covered before Stephan Lichtsteiner headed it into Jurgen Locadia’s path, at which point the goalkeeper was just too far away to get there in time.

Other than that, Leno made a couple of saves and his distribution was generally at its usual high standard.

Stephan Lichtsteiner 3

This was a pretty dreadful performance from the right-back at both ends. As mentioned, he assisted Brighton’s goal with a brainless header, but he also offered nothing going forward. None of his crosses reached an Arsenal man, and only 70% of his passes found their target (no other defender completed less than 87%).

He actually improved after switching to centre-back, but perhaps that’s just as a result of the fact he no longer had to do very much. The Swiss international should’ve come off for Ainsley Maitland-Niles much earlier in the match.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 5

Both Sokratis and Koscielny had ventured up the pitch for a corner when Brighton’s goal went in. However, neither were hugely convincing throughout the game, with the Seagulls a bit unlucky not to put more of their opportunities on target. Sokratis did have a couple of good moments though, and just about won the majority of his duels.

Laurent Koscielny 5

As above, but Koscielny’s distribution was a bit more impressive than Sokratis’, and his ability to win individual duels was slightly worse.

Sead Kolasinac 5.5

Kolasinac couldn’t get involved offensively as much as he would’ve wanted, considering only Mesut Özil has made more chances than him per game this season. He did make a couple of good challenges defensively, but in a game like this it was more about what he could add at the other end, and Arsenal just didn’t spend enough time down his side.

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Midfield

Lucas Torreira 7

Torreira had a solid enough game, winning possession back well as usual, and he did a particularly good job of picking up free-kicks. He also created two chances, more than any of his teammates bar Granit Xhaka, who made two as well.

Granit Xhaka 6

As mentioned, Xhaka jointly led the team in chances created. His passing was more accurate than anybody else’s on the team, even though he spent more time in possession than anyone on the pitch. Nonetheless, he did make one particularly stupid pass in the first half that tainted his performance on the ball somewhat.

The main problem for Xhaka was that he progressed the play forward to Matteo Guendouzi, then Guendouzi struggled to find someone in front of him, particularly when Mesut Özil wasn’t around. The problem got even worse when Xhaka moved into defence, as he did again at the end of this game.

Matteo Guendouzi 4

Along with Lichtsteiner, Guendouzi should’ve been one of the players to come off, instead of Özil or Lacazette. Other than one impressive over the top through ball to Aubameyang, he couldn’t make things happen in the final third. Though the Brighton goal wasn’t entirely his fault, he did lose his man as he tracked back from the corner.

In a game like this, someone like Aaron Ramsey or even Ainsley Maitland-Niles would’ve made more sense in midfield.

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Forwards

Mesut Özil 6.5

Özil had a good half, which is what made it so bizarre that he was the player to come off over the break. Emery said afterwards that it was a tactical decision to allow the team to change formation, rather than an issue with personnel. It clearly didn’t work, with Arsenal failing to create a single shot on target without Özil, after four in the first half.

That said, it wasn’t Özil’s best game either. Though what he did was generally positive, he wasn’t involved as much as he’d want to be.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7.5

Aubameyang had a really good first half, scoring the opening goal of the game and putting two more great efforts on target, which were both well saved. On another day, either his half-volleyed lob or his low shot one-on-one goes in, and Arsenal breeze to victory.

Unfortunately, Aubameyang only managed to score one of those chances, and then he disappeared after Özil and Lacazette left the pitch. He had 31 touches in the first half, and just 13 in the second.

Alexandre Lacazette 7

As with Özil, it was very strange to see Lacazette come off so early. The striker set up Arsenal’s only goal of the game, and he had the team’s one shot of the second half, despite playing just 17 minutes of it.

The Frenchman was also very good in tight spaces, completing all of his three dribbles (more than anyone else on the pitch) and linking up well with teammates. He’ll be a bit disappointed not to have scored for another game though.

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Substitutes

Alex Iwobi 5

Iwobi came on for Özil at half-time, allowing Arsenal to change formation. He didn’t create anything or have any shots of his own, and his best moment was when the ball bounced off the back of his foot and almost deflected into the goal.

Aaron Ramsey 6

Ramsey had a couple of bright moments, but he didn’t get anything quite right. The ball always seemed to squirm away from him or the teammate he was trying to set up. He certainly added a new dimension to the team though, it just would’ve made more sense bringing him on for someone like Guendouzi and keeping Özil and Lacazette on the pitch.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 5

Maitland-Niles should’ve come on much earlier than he did, with Lichtsteiner struggling so badly. By the time he did enter proceedings, Emery had decided to switch formation and Arsenal were struggling to get forward.

On a couple of occasions Maitland-Niles got forward and found himself with multiple defenders to beat and no one to pass to on his side of the pitch. Understandably, he couldn’t make anything of those situations.