Photo Credit Getty Images/Lewis Storey

By Paul Stevens

Arsenal crashed out of the EFL Cup in spectacular fashion on Tuesday night. The result is undoubtably one of the single most embarrassing outcomes under Mikel Arteta. Eighty-four places separated the two sides, and Arsenal’s loss will go down as one of the biggest shocks in English cup history.

While the Gunners line-up was a rotated side, the team that Arsenal put onto the pitch should have been more than enough to overcome the League Two side that had never made it through to the competition’s quarter final stage.

Mikel Arteta’s starting line up included seven of the eleven that I had selected in my preview, although I noticed a tactical mistake that if Arteta had the chance to replay the match, I think he would address.

I had selected Marli Salmon in the starting line up, but I had intentionally placed the teenager to play at right back, to protect him from a potential mistake in the more critical role in the centre of the back four.

Arteta, however, started Salmon as Arsenal’s left sided centre back, a position he unfortunately was ruthlessly exposed in, which directly led to Fleetwood opening the scoring in just the 21^st minute.

Salmon was outmuscled by Aaron Loupalo-Bi. The strong Fleetwood forward proved to be far too physical for the inexperienced Salmon to cope with and the Fleetwood man finished low, through IIIan Meslier’s legs.

The two teams went into half-time with the home side’s lead intact. Mikel Arteta made two changes at the interval. On came captain Martin Odegaard, alongside Ben White. Jurien Timber and the unlucky Salmon were the two Arsenal men to leave the field.

It quickly became clear that Odegaard would prove to be a game changer. Arsenal’s speed of play and chance creation dramatically increased with the inspired Norwegian on the pitch.

Within five minutes of his introduction, Odegaard almost single-handedly instigated what looked, at that time, like an inevitable Arsenal come back.

It was Ceadach O’Neill who provided a wonderful ball into the box from the Arsenal left. The debutants cross found Viktor Gyokeres, who fought off his marker to scuff a finish toward goal. Then, as the two players clashed, Gyokeres fell. On his way to the floor, the Swedish international smashed the ball into the ground forcing the ball into the Fleetwood net.

With fifty minutes on the clock and the scoreline now level at 1-1, it seemed unimaginable that Arsenal would not go on to score more, but Arsenal’s finishing in-front of goal was truly woeful. Kai Havertz alone spurned at least three golden opportunities.

The match turned in the 85^th minute when Max Dowman was shown a straight red card for a minor aggressive shove with his knee after being smashed with a truly awful scissor style sliding challenge by Harrison Neal.

Referee Michael Salisbury could have easily booked both players and got on with the game or should have sent off both. However, it was only Arsenal who went down to ten men.

The Gunners couldn’t find a winner and the game went straight to penalties after the full-time whistle. Martin Odegaard took Arsenal’s first spot kick and scored, then Kai Havertz scored the second. Viktor Gyokeres confidently blasted home Arsenal’s third but it would be the Gunners fourth spot kick that proved so costly.

Up stepped Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazilian produced the same style of infuriating stuttered run up that had contributed to Eberechi Eze missing his spot kick in the Champion’s League final.

Frustratingly, Guimaraes had attempted this exact same penalty routine in last summers World Cup. He had failed to score then as he did now.

19-year-old Conor Haughey stepped up and smashed Fleetwood’s final penalty home to dump Arsenal out of the EFL Cup.    

Stat Focus

The first half stats show a complete Arsenal domination in just about every single metric.

The Gunners recorded 71% possession. An XG (expected goals) tally of 0.91 to Fleetwood’s 0.18.

Arsenal led the total shot count by eleven to just one, although both sides had one shot on target.

The biggest difference in the initial forty-five was the two big chances created – and missed – by Arsenal, while Fleetwood had created and converted their one big chance into a goal.

Arsenal had completed a staggering 256 accurate passes, with an 89% completion rate, while the hosts could only muster 52 with just a 57% success rate.

The stats at the end of the match really highlight just how wasteful Arsenal had been in front of goal.

Arsenal ended the match with a frankly staggering 78% possession, an XG of 2.21, with Fleetwood mustering just 0.26 in return.

The shot count read twenty-six for the Gunners, just three for the home side.

Seven on target to just two for the hosts. Then came the big chances, not only created, but wasted by Arsenal. The count stood at six big chances, five missed. The Gunners completed 566 passes to just 99.

The deeper you dive into the stats, the more bewildering it becomes that Arsenal did not win this game and win comfortably.

Star Player

I am giving my star player award to Captain Martin Odegaard, who was one of a very small number of players that could walk off that pitch with an ounce of pride. A special mention must go to Ceadach O’Neill who got a fine assist on his full Arsenal debut. The youngster must have been stunned at the depths that the team he walked into had fallen.

Usually, this feature would be full of detail and insight into why the winner had been chosen for the star player. While Odegaard was a bright spark, Arsenal’s captain wasn’t able to be a match winner or drag the team to a win.

While I’m aware this blog has been negative, I want to end with one small positive that could come from this defeat.

On the way to the EFL Cup final last season, the team was running on fumes, and this competition very nearly derailed the entire season. Alongside the FA Cup defeat to Southampton in the semi final, the EFL Cup run added a huge number of minutes into fatigued bodies and minds.

With Arsenal’s exit, the players will now have several free midweeks in order to rest and recover. Mikel Arteta will also have extra time with his squad to work on tactics and game plans.

While it is painful for all Arsenal fans right now, this early exit could well be a blessing in disguise and the Gunners can fully focus on results in the Premier League, the Champion’s League and then see what the FA Cup draw brings.

A Look Ahead

Arsenal now turn their attention firmly to the Premier League. The Gunners record at Liverpool’s famous Anfield stadium has been less then ideal. In fact, Mikel Arteta has never won at the stadium as a manager.

Arteta was a player for Arsenal and played the full 90 minutes way back in 2012, the last time Arsenal ran out as victors at Anfield. Goals from Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski gave Arsenal the win that day.

While it took a moment of pure magic last season from Dominik Szoboszlai to separate the two sides, last season felt like a big opportunity for Arsenal to go and vanquish the ghosts of the past and win. However, the Gunners fell just short.

In my opinion, Arsenal have an even bigger chance this season to finally win at Anfield. While Arsenal have several key injuries, Liverpool not only have a new manager but have also been decimated with injuries of their own, including the thorn in Arsenal’s side – Szoboszlai.

While a win isn’t mandatory, in order to win a Premier League title – as the Gunners discovered last season, victory at Anfield would feel like further vindication of Mikel Arteta’s growth as a manager and the teams continued evolution.

With everything going on with a certain Manchester club, which currently has 114 issues to deal with, it seems like Liverpool or Chelsea will be Arsenal’s main title rivals this season.

So far, Chelsea appears too inconsistent, so I think Liverpool will be the main threat. The Reds have a chance to firmly position themselves in a title race with a victory at 4.30pm on Sunday.

Should Arsenal slip up, Liverpool will close the gap at the top to just three points after nine matches played. While it is still incredibly early to even be thinking about who will become the Premier League Champion, Arsenal have a huge opportunity to lay down a marker for the rest of the division with a win.

The game promises to be an intriguing clash between two of the best sides in the Premier League and the winner, should there be one, will put themselves in a strong position going into arguably the busiest periods in the football calendar.