Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher pinpointed a key Arsenal weakness as they dropped points at home to put Liverpool within a point of the Premier League title.
Arsenal drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace on Wednesday, leaving them 12 points behind leaders Liverpool with four games left to play.
Liverpool welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield on Sunday knowing a draw will clinch their second title of the Premier League era.
Arne Slot has taken the Reds to the cusp of their 20th league win in his first season at the club and the Gunners’ challenge was undone by 13 draws and counting, more than anyone else in the top half of the table.
They added another to the tally against the Eagles and Carragher told presenter David Jones and former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott about a problem they’ll need to solve next season.
“Arsenal have conceded six percent of their goals from corners. That, would you believe, is the most in the top half of the Premier League,” said the former Liverpool centre-back.
“Only Manchester United are actually worse than Arsenal set-piece wise. When we make a big deal about the set piece coach, he’s out of this world going forward but they’ve got a big problem defensively. Should we cut his wages in half?”
Nicolas Jover joined Mikel Arteta‘s staff before the 2021-22 season after working with him at Manchester City.
Since his appointment, Arsenal have scored 55 goals from corners and 68 from set pieces overall, the highest in the Premier League on both counts.
Their reputation now goes before them and an Arsenal corner is a set piece to be feared, but they give up goals too.
Mikel Arteta (Image: Getty)
The first of Palace’s two equalisers at the Emirates Stadium came from a dead ball. Adam Wharton picked out Eberechi Eze on the edge of the box and the unmarked England winger scored past David Raya.
“It’s been one of the stories of the season and rightly so, it’s unbelievable,” added Carragher.
“You think Arsenal are going to score a goal from every set piece… He’s had a huge impact. But it’s funny that on the flip-side of that, they’re having problems themselves.”
Arteta isn’t laughing. Arsenal’s title hopes season after season depend on their ability to keep pace with teams that seldom leave points on the table.
Injury issues have limited their challenge this season but statistical anomalies like conceding from set pieces also don’t do them any favours.
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
Topics: Arsenal, Jamie Carragher, Liverpool, Mikel Arteta, Premier League, Champions League
