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.
4Substitutes
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.