5 Things we learned from Arsenal’s second half comeback against Leeds United

1. I suppose you put that down to a champions victory. I know it’s kind of cliché at this point but it is a sign of champions when you win whilst playing poorly which is exactly what Arsenal did today, Leeds started the game as the far better side and were unlucky not to take the lead a number of times in the first half through Stach, Bogle and Ampadu who all went close with David Raya being Arsenal’s best player by quite some distance in the first half. Leeds clearly followed the template Brighton set a few weeks ago and pressed the life out of Arsenal which led to a number of chances which were let down by poor decisions in the final third letting Arsenal off the hook, the Gunners were miles off it in the first half and when they did get forward lacked any quality whatsoever in the final third leaving Trafford with very little to do in the first half. The second half continued in the same vein which eventually led to Leeds taking a deserved lead ten minutes into the second 45 as Gudmundsson played a brilliant ball across the Arsenal box which evaded everyone falling to James Justin at the back-post who fired the ball into the top corner to give the visitors the lead, the lead didn’t last long however as Arsenal equalised just seven minutes later as Madueke played the ball to the back-post to Ben White who nodded the ball back across the box to Calafiori who volleyed Arsenal back into the game. The equaliser gave Arteta’s side momentum and in the 70th minute they took the lead after some magical football which came to Declan Rice who flicked the ball into Bruno Guimaraes’ path who slammed Arsenal into the lead from just outside the box, Leeds seemed to run out of steam for the last part of the game as Arsenal saw out a massive three points at the Emirates.

2. Arsenal’s squad depth yet again gets them over the line. We’ve seen it a couple of times already this season were a player comes off the bench to win Arsenal the game and that was the case yet again today, Bruno Guimaraes scored the winner at the Stadium of Light last month from the bench and he repeated that yet again today with a brilliant finish. Up until the equaliser from Calafiori I thought Arsenal were really poor and were probably lucky not to be 2 or 3 goals down with the chances Leeds created in the first half, we’re used to seeing Arteta’s side conceding very few chances but the last few games against Sunderland, Brighton and now Leeds have seen Arsenal concede far more chances than normal which has to be a big worry for Arteta. The positive however is that when his team isn’t playing well you have the likes of Guimaraes, Merino, Timber, Gyokeres, Dowman, Eze, Zubimendi etc to call on to change the game, there’s no other team in the league that have depth like that and it continues to win Arsenal football matches. The issue though for Arsenal is that against the better teams they won’t get let off the hook so easily but with the likes of Saliba out and Timber not fully fit you can understand the vulnerabilities of the backline with Konsa just coming in over the summer, they obviously still remain favourites for the league with Man Cities most likely point deduction coming at some point this season but there are some issues for Arteta to iron out over the next few weeks.

3. Another really promising display from Leeds United. Leeds have started the season brilliantly and you could see the confidence flowing in the team today taking the game to the champions at their own stadium, on another day Leeds go into half-time at least 0-2 up and who knows what happens from there but there are so many positives to take for Daniel Farke from this game. The biggest one being Dominic Calvert-Lewin who put on a masterclass up front in how to hold the ball up which got Leeds out of trouble on a number of occasions along with leading to a few chances which were let down by poor decision making, the same unfortunately can’t be said about Noah Okafor who was abysmal and gave the ball away time after time along with overhitting an easy through ball which would have put Stach clean through on goal in the first half. The midfield battled brilliantly in the first half but ran out of steam in the second 45 after the Arsenal changes which you can understand given the calibre of players Arteta brought on but again you can’t help but be impressed with the way Farke has this team playing, I’m not sure what the goal was for Leeds before the season but with the way they are currently playing I can’t see why they can’t at least be fighting for the European spots with the likes of Brentford, Newcastle, Aston Villa etc who will probably be in and around there. What do you think Leeds’ ambitions should be this season, the sky’s the limit I think.

4. Have Arsenal made a mistake by not buying another attacker? The answer to that question is obviously yes and with Martinelli and Jesus departing in the summer with only Tzolis coming through he door you can’t help but feel like Arsenal have made a pretty big mistake not bringing in another attacker, it’s been the weak point of this Arsenal team for the last couple of seasons and that theme is continuing this season as yet another game goes by with no goal involvements from any of the attackers. If they were all playing well you could give them a pass but the performances from the likes of Saka, Madueke and Havertz have to be worrying for Arsenal fans when the defence isn’t as solid as it normally is, the problem then comes when you look at the replacements with Gyokeres the only real attacker on the bench which isn’t saying much considering how poor his performances have been so far this season. Madueke has been shocking since signing for Arsenal last season and with the lack of attackers in the squad I fear we’re going to be seeing a lot of him this season which is worrying from an Arsenal perspective, Saka has been by far and away Arsenal’s best attacker over the past few years but the amount of minutes he’s played has clearly caught up to him as he’s lost that burst of pace that made him so scary to play against in the past. Overall I’d be worried if I was Mikel Arteta about his attacks current performances as he has no one to come in and really make an impact if someone is playing poorly, is it time to give Dowman a chance in the 11? Why not?

5. What’s up next for these two sides? For Arsenal they are back in action in the Champions League this week at home to Lille on Tuesday before taking a trip to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest next Sunday in the league, for Leeds they are back in action next Sunday at home to Man United which should be a tasty affair considering the history between those two. As for the rest of this weekend I’ll have the Man United vs Spurs review up later on whilst Como vs Roma and Liverpool vs Man City will be the games for tomorrow, should be fun weekend hopefully all around in the football world. Stay tuned. ‍