Arsenal are edging this for me in a closely fought contest. Mind you, I have the impression that this is as good as it gets for them, while there is more to come from us.
We need to pass it better, move more, and get a bit more urgency about us. It’s OK, it’s only half time, but we have played most of this too slowly so far.
I think where we are missing Salah most here is anticipating long balls on the break. Whereas tonight we have players seeing Trent and Robbo gaining possession and tearing off upfield, Mo will see that they are about to get the ball and be racing up the field like the road runner in advance.
Mané switching back to the left looks more comfortable but we now have Díaz out of position in a team that he is only just getting familiar with.
salah has not been great lately but what he does is drag the defence all over the place with his speed and movement and that creates space for mane, jota etc… so even if not 100%, i would throw him in jus for his presence alone
Arsenal’s main plot seems to be pinning Trent and Robbo down with their fast wingers , which works out pretty well this far.
Xhaka , Odegard and Lacazette closing the middle pretty effectively.
Our way through would be some neat short passing through the middle instead of hoofing it up as they did in the first mostly. The Ref seems a bit inconsistent at how much “physicality” he will allow. Ususally he waves through Arsenal putting the boot in and calls back ours.
I think Bobby for Diogo or Sadio could be a good idea through the middle - but we would lose some “running the channels” threat.
Another thing that I noticed since some matches ago - Trent really needs a breather. He really lacks concentration lately on all accounts and looks phidically spent as well. Not an easy problem to solve , though