Alex Keble analyses the 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
The best move of the match - and the final move - ended with Leandro Trossard diverting the ball off target and Mikel Arteta collapsing to the floor in frustration.
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Arsenal were agonisingly close to winning the three points, agonisingly close to a potentially season-defining moment, only for Trossard to produce a finish in keeping with the 95 minutes that preceded it: scrappy, frustrating and a bit short of quality.
A draw was a fair result and a wholly unhelpful one for both Chelsea and Arsenal who, locked on 19 points, are a full nine points shy of leaders Liverpool as we head into the November international break.
Neither side is out of the title race just yet. But neither team put in a performance to suggest they can close the gap on Arne Slot's side any time soon.
Here’s why this match never quite sparked into life.
Odegaard lifts Arsenal but also highlights creativity issues
Martin Odegaard provided the only real moment of quality from an Arsenal player, lifting a lovely pass over the top of Chelsea’s high line to assist Gabriel Martinelli’s second-half opener.
He created four chances, more than anyone else on the pitch and yet overall, he lacked that incisive quality we are accustomed to.
Odegaard had a pass accuracy of 91.7 per cent, the second highest in the Arsenal team behind the 93.3 per cent of Jurrien Timber. That is not a good thing.
He was a little safe in his actions, too often shuffling the ball out to Bukayo Saka, showing a conservatism in keeping with the encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Key: Green line = successful pass, yellow line = chance created, blue line = assist, dashed red line = failed pass
Indeed, Arsenal’s inability to create clear-cut chances and the lack of progressive passing options for Odegaard showed that his return might not instantly fix their creativity issues.
For most of the 90 minutes, Arsenal simply did not have forward passing options.
Declan Rice and Thomas Partey came too deep for the ball and as Chelsea sat off to compress the space, the Gunners were forced into sideways passes.
The example below was typical of Arsenal in this contest – and across the whole season. Odegaard alone cannot bring back the fast-paced attacking football.
Partey man-marking job shuts Palmer down
Chelsea’s main creator was shut down expertly by Arsenal. Arteta instructed Partey to man-mark Cole Palmer and in the first half in particular, Partey’s willingness to stick tight to him significantly lessened the Blues star's influence.
Enzo Maresca’s side were keen not to lose the ball and create a transitional game (more on that below), meaning Chelsea’s players regularly looked for the safest and simplest pass, and with Palmer closely watched, he was pushed to the margins.
Significantly, for the second half, Palmer was moved into a wider left position, a tactical decision taken to shake off Partey.
Unfortunately for Chelsea that just meant Palmer was shunted into an awkward deep-left midfield role from which he struggled to find space, leading to simple backwards passes and a quiet match for him.
Obsession with control creates scrappy contest
What Palmer did here mimicked Arsenal’s own in-possession plan: slow the game down, minimise risk and ensure that the pattern of the match never became end-to-end.
As two former Pep Guardiola disciples, we should not have been surprised to see Arteta and Maresca both set up this way.
Chelsea continually turned down chances to counter-attack, preferring to recycle and although Arsenal were more open to these moments, their lack of fluency through midfield meant they had to funnel their moves through the two wingers, both of whom lost their head-to-heads with the Chelsea full-backs.
Marc Cucurella was deservedly awarded Man of the Match for shepherding Saka, who failed to create a single chance, while Malo Gusto did well against Martinelli – aside from that one important moment.
Arsenal’s wingers were blunted, Palmer got lost in the midfield battle and both teams wanted controlled possession and men behind the ball.
