Derby day defeat: Aubameyang’s goal woes continue

Arsenal’s woes continued at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the Gunners fell to a 2-0 defeat in the North London derby.

Harry Kane and Heung-min Son were both on the scoresheet for Spurs with Arsenal not able to find the back of the net, despite dominating possession throughout the game.

It was another goalless game for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In 11 appearances since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, Aubameyang has only managed to net two goals and assist once, compared to last year where he had eight goals in his first 11 appearances.

It’s clear that Aubameyang’s lack of goals and creativity is a worrying subject and a massive concern for the foreseeable future, but when your main goal provider isn’t producing, you have to adapt and find a way to win.

During the North London derby yesterday, Aubameyang only had one shot on goal and 23 touches.The Gabonese international also struggled in aerial duels throughout the contest, a clear weakness of the striker.

Aubameyang is more of an athletic striker who can finish from close range, considering only three of his 22 Premier League goals last season were headers.

Despite of this, Arsenal crossed the ball into the box a total of 44 times during the game, a record for the club. The persistence in this failing tactic is a worrying sign for Mikel Arteta and Aubameyang, with his xG being far greater of previous levels even before the Spurs game.

Aubameyang’s non-penalty xG this season:

Fulham – 0.31
West Ham – 0.04
Liverpool – 0.00
Sheffield Utd – 0.05
Man City – 0.00
Leicester – 0.12
Man Utd – 0.06
Aston Villa – 0.00

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— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) November 8, 2020

His positioning is certainly a contributing factor. This season so far, Auba has mainly played on the left-wing, but more recently, Arteta has been placing him in a more central position.

Both of his goals this season have come from him starting in a left-wing position, but it’s still not convincing. Arteta mentioned in a press conference that “sometimes the service is not right, sometimes the timing is not right, sometimes the last execution is not right but as a team, there are certain things that we have to do better”.

Arteta can clearly see the problems the team are facing, but he needs to address them… and quickly.

Aubameyang craves an attacking midfielder to provide him chances. Currently, without a player like *cough* Mesut Ozil *cough*, Arsenal appear bereft of ideas in the final third. 

There’s no doubting Aubameyang’s ability to score goals. He’s been the key marksmen at the Emirates since his arrival in January 2018 and performed well under previous boss Unai Emery.

Embed from Getty Images

But, since the striker signed a new three-year deal at the start of this season, his goal-scoring ability has drifted along with Arsenal’s form.

Arteta should certainly be looking to spend a fair amount of money on a creative attacking midfielder in the January transfer window, Christian Eriksen and Dominik Szoboszlai the latest players linked in that role.

His Spanish boss likes his players to have patience and pick the right balls out to create the best chances in front of goal. Unfortunately against defensively sound teams, as most of the Premier League sides are, the lack of pace in the build-up of attacks stifles Arsenal and Aubameyang.

Arguments could be made that Arteta is still attempting to find his best team but those excuses are quickly running out. In Aubameyang, he has his star striker misfiring.

Burnley arrive at the Emirates next and will form a tough defence for Auba once more. As the side 17th for goals scored this season, Arsenal need to find goals from the Gabonese striker if they wish to compete for a European spot.

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