5/10 star had his worst game in an Arsenal shirt vs Chelsea

This was a big week for Arsenal, a huge one for Mikel Arteta‘s men. They very nearly passed it with flying colours.

A week ago, the Gunners sealed a remarkable 4-1 win over their fierce rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. In midweek, they saw off the challenge of one of Europe’s most in-form sides, Bayern Munich, winning 3-1.

They headed to Chelsea buoyed by a number of returnees. Among the matchday squad were Gabriel Jesus, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Odegaard.

However, they were missing both William Saliba and Gabriel through injury, something that perhaps proved vital as Arteta’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by the Blues at Stamford Bridge.

While Enzo Maresca’s charges were resilient, it was one of Arsenal’s poorest displays of the campaign to date.

Where it went wrong for Arsenal vs Chelsea

In midweek, Declan Rice labelled Bayern Munich as the toughest opposition they had faced all season. Well, on the domestic scene, it was Chelsea who provided them with their sternest test of the Premier League campaign to date.

They did so with ten men too. The Gunners struggled to string their passes together, particularly in the first half, but they were given the helping hand and extra motivation needed when Moises Caicedo was sent off.

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The chatter coming into the game had been dominated by Caicedo vs Rice and it was the latter who won on this occasion.

The Ecuadorian has been one of the best midfielders in the world this season but was given his marching orders following a VAR review after a late studs-up challenge on Mikel Merino.

Chelsea actually played their best football with ten men and regularly looked like a big threat on the counterattack through Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho.

Arsenal never looked in too much bother defensively but they did concede the first goal. Trevoh Chalobah rose highest at the near post from a corner on the left-hand side and flicked the ball home.

Nicolas Jover and Arteta will have been furious to have conceded a goal from a set-piece. Usually, it’s Arsenal who are so imperious in that situation.

On this occasion they came off second best, Chalobah expertly exposing the space at the near post to steer it past David Raya who couldn’t do much at all.

But it wasn’t defensively where Arsenal struggled most. Martin Zubimendi was brought off early in the second half. Arsenal’s midfield lacked punch and they lacked a creative spark. Equally, they lacked spark from the wide areas.

Bukayo Saka provided the assist for Merino’s headed equaliser, but Gabriel Martinelli and the Brazilian’s replacement, Noni Madueke, failed to engineer much. Neither player provided a single key pass during the 90 minutes.

Arteta’s team certainly were not at their best offensively but they were slightly ordinary in defence.

Arsenal’s worst defender vs Chelsea

Missing Gabriel is one thing. Cristian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie have stepped up admirably in the last week to fill the void.

However, missing both Gabriel and Saliba is another thing. The Frenchman was a surprise absentee from the starting lineup on Sunday having picked up a knock in training.

As a result, it meant that Mosquera and Hincapie played together as a pairing for just the second time in their careers.

It was rather obvious that was the case too. Hincapie certainly looked the more comfortable of the two, completing 88% of his passes, but Mosquera looked uncharacteristically out of sorts at the back.

The Spaniard did not make a big error of any sort, but the tone for his performance was set in the 13th minute when he picked up an early caution for a clumsy tackle.

Mosquera has been nothing short of a colossus since signing for the Londoners in a mere £13m deal in the summer. He notably came into the side at Anfield in place of Saliba early in the campaign and looked phenomenal. Equally, he dealt with Harry Kane and Co with ease in the Champions League a few days ago.

Yet, against Chelsea, he looked far more uncomfortable. Safe to say this was his most challenging game for the club to date.

He wasn’t awful by any stretch of the imagination but Mosquera has set such high standards since signing that he did look more ordinary on this occasion.

That was pinpointed by the Express who in their post-game player ratings handed him a 5/10 and noted that he ‘looked shaky at times as Arsenal faced a barrage of attacks from the hosts and looked exposed for much of the clash.’

Gabriel and Saliba are usually so good at punching passes through the lines and evading the press but Mosquera certainly showed his limitations in this regard against Chelsea.

A poorer day at the office, sure, but there should be no long-term worries about the youngster’s future just yet. There is a reason he was described as a player with the talent to become “one of the best centre-backs in the world” by analyst Spencer Mossman.

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