Given his commute to Arsenal’s training ground involves driving around the M25, it is little surprise Mikel Arteta has compared his side’s attacking struggles to being stuck in traffic.
Arsenal are top of the Premier League and can book a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night with a point against Lens, but they are yet to fully click going forward this season.
The Gunners rank 11th in the Premier League for goals scored from open play — and defensive steel has instead been the bedrock of their success. No team has conceded fewer League goals than Arsenal and Arteta has been accused of ditching last season’s eye-catching style for a more pragmatic approach.
Arteta insists that ploy has not been deliberate, and Arsenal’s exploits in Europe so far certainly support his claim. The Gunners have scored nine goals in four games in Group B and, prior to this round of matches, only three sides had bettered that tally.
In the Premier League, Arsenal have had to contend with teams sitting deep and doubling up on their wingers. But it has been a different story in the Champions League, with many of Arteta’s young players revelling in the space afforded to them in their debut season in the competition.
Bukayo Saka, so often a marked man when playing in the Premier League, has been particularly impressive, scoring two goals and making three assists in four European games.
“It’s about finding the right key to unlock the doors in relation to what the team wants to do,” said Arteta. “When you’re sitting in traffic… I want to go 100 miles an hour but I have three buses and 55 taxis and motorbikes around me so it’s tricky.
“Game state is a big definer of that. You see that time and time again in the League or any other. In the Champions League what happened? We were really exciting.”
Wednesday night is another chance for Arsenal to shake off their pragmatic tag and book a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League. They could qualify for the last 16 before a ball is even kicked at Emirates Stadium, should PSV Eindhoven lose against Sevilla in a game which kicks off at 5.45pm.
Whatever the result in Spain, Arsenal will go through with a point, while a win will guarantee they progress as Group B winners with a game to spare.
Given the hectic schedule, Arteta wants to wrap up top spot tonight so next month’s trip to Eindhoven becomes a dead rubber and a chance to rest players.
Lens beat Arsenal 2-1 in France in October and Arteta has called for a fast start against the team sixth in Ligue 1. The Spaniard believes early goals are key to unlocking his side’s attack, because it forces opposition teams to open up.
Tellingly in the Premier League, his Gunners have scored just once in the opening 20 minutes. In contrast, in Europe, Arsenal have twice scored in the opening 20 minutes and they have always got a goal by half-time.
“The important thing is we keep winning,” said Arteta. “Last year we scored a lot of goals in the first minutes of games, and then the game becomes different. The opponent becomes more open, the opponent has to do many other things and we haven’t been able to do that that often.”
Lens come into tonight’s game in decent form. After losing four of their opening five games this season, they have improved and lost one of their last 12. Franck Haise’s side have impressed defensively, keeping four clean sheets in their past five games.
Arsenal have been troubled by injuries all year and Fabio Vieira this week became their latest casualty, the midfielder undergoing groin surgery on Monday. He is expected to be out for weeks and joins Emile Smith Rowe, Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey on the sidelines.
The core members of Arsenal’s attack, however, are all fit and Saturday’s late 1-0 win at Brentford was only the third time this season that Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Saka started together.
The quartet should keep their places tonight, with Kai Havertz also hoping to start after his 89th-minute winner at the weekend.
