Three reasons why Arsenal lost to Manchester City on Sunday

Arsenal’s loss to Manchester City in the English Premier League came as no surprise to any self respecting football fan. The Gunners record against the top six sides especially away from home is nothing short of embarrassing. To put the record in perspective, Arsenal has not won away to a big six side since 2015! However, records do not play football matches, football players do.There are a few reasons as to why Unai Emery’s side lost to Pep Guardiola’s defending Champions, here are a few of them;

Defensive injuries

Hector Bellerin, Sokratis an Rob have two things in common; All three are starters for Unai Emery’s Arsenal and all three were injured for the trip to Manchester City on Sunday. To be without three of his best defenders in a match where he is facing the league best scorers and expect a win would be really stretching expectations. The manner through which Arsenal conceded their goals was clear evidence that better defenders are needed at the club. Something those responsible for signing players need to prioritize in the summer.

Granit Xhaka’s absence 

Hate him or love him, Granit Xhaka is Arsenal’s best central midfielder, period! He may be slow and prone the the occasional brain fart moment where he makes mistakes and concedes a goal but he still provides better than Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira. Not to say that Guendouzi and Torreira were poor against City, but it was clear that Xhaka’s calmness on the ball and excellent distribution were missed in a very key area of the pitch. Very rarely do Arsenal have a good performance with the Swiss absent and it was the case at the Etihad. Already without key defensive players, Xhaka’s absence added a whole new headache to Unai Emery and the final result showed. Let’s hope that was the last time Arsenal line up without the GRANIT!

Sheer Lack of quality

There was a very interesting scenario that happened in the match on Sunday, Kevin De Bryune lay own injured and had to be replaced. So who replaced him? Algerian star Riyad Mahrez! The fact that Manchester City had that quality sitting on the bench speaks volume of their squad depth but also Arsenal’s lack of quality in almost every department of the pitch. Most of Manchester City’s bench warmers would slot straight into Arsenal’s starting line up. Arsenal were beaten by a better team, with better players and the best manager in World football at the moment. Simply put, Arsenal’s lack of quality cost them the match.