ARSENAL: XHAKA LEFT-BACK EXPERIMENT FAILS

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wanted a trusted player at left-back the last Premier League clash with Brighton&Hove Albion in the absence of the injured Kieran Tierney and he went for experienced Switzerland player Granit Xhaka. In the end, the gamble made on the Switzerland senior national team skipper didn't work as Arsenal made it two successive losses in the Premier League with the 2-1 loss at home to Brighton last weekend.

Arteta and his Arsenal players were looking to make a big response to the feeble performance at Crystal Palace in their last league games before they welcomed Brighton to the Emirates Stadium. Eventually, they could not produce a positive response to the Crystal Palace defeat after Brighton exploited the gap in the left-back area on the way to a 2-1 win. Switzerland midfielder Xhaka was culpable in the build-up that led to the first Brighton goal from Belgian forward Leandro Trossard. Xhaka was nowhere to be found in the left-back area and that prompted Zambian international star EnockMwepu to exploit the space on the right side of the Seagulls attack. His pass was finished by Trossard for the only goal in the first half.

Mwepu added a second goal for Brighton in the second half before Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard pulled one back to make it a grandstand finish. The Seagulls thereafter held on to take the three points for the first time in eight Premier League matches.
Brighton came into the Arsenal game on the back of a seven-game winless run and it came to an end thanks to the away win over the North Londoners. They had lost six league matches in a row before the goalless draw with Norwich City at home. The stalemate with the bottom Premier League team was followed by the win over Arsenal. For the Gunners, they are now on a two-match losing run after the 3-0 loss at Palace last week Monday was followed by the home defeat at the hands of Brighton.