Why is Mesut Ozil crucial to repair the terrible form of Arsenal?

Arsenal's four main ambitions were strengthened Monday night. A 2-0 win against Newcastle United at Emirates allowed them to take third place in the Premier League standings with only a few games to play.

The goals of Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette were enough to extend Arsenal's home victory streak in the Premier League in ten games. Growing optimism suggests that Unai Emery will be able to deliver the Champions League football next season.

After playing the role of outsiders in the race to finish in the top four for a good part of the season, Arsenal is now in pole position to achieve that, having accumulated two points over a Tottenham team free fall.

As impressive as Arsenal's recent results have been, club fans are worried that their too-distant form will prove to be a waste. Five of Arsenal's last seven Premier League matches have been contested and Emery himself acknowledges that improvements are needed beyond the Emirates.

Speaking after the win in Newcastle, Emery challenged his players to find the same regularity on their travels as in the N7, but how will he spark a turnaround in their performance on the road?

Arsenal form at home vs form at the outside

The comfort of the home plays an important role in football and, in general, teams should earn more points in their own stadium than elsewhere. Of the 20 teams in the Premier League this season, only Crystal Palace has won a greater proportion of their points away (20) than at home (16).

Nevertheless, scoring points on the road is essential to the overall success of the team. Arsenal's off-the-field record stands in stark contrast to his six major rivals. While Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea (in that order) occupy the top five places in the Premier League standings, Arsenal is tenth.

In fact, Arsenal's total points (19) away is lower than Leicester City, Crystal Palace, Watford and Wolves. That Arsenal can beat all these teams with a win over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday does not diminish their poor record. Such a result would still have placed them six points behind Chelsea in fifth place.

Arsenal did not have much trouble finding the net in his away match with an average of 1.85 goals per game, which is not too far from his home total of 2, 29 per game. However, his respective records in defense are very different.

While Arsenal have kept seven goals in white and conceded only 12 goals to the Emirates – only Liverpool and Chelsea (both 10) have left fewer home games in the Premier League this season – they have shipped 27 out, a difference of 1.22 goals per game.

Remarkably, they have not spared a single goal this season with 14 attempts, even conceding to Huddersfield, notoriously shy, as well as a sentenced Fulham team.

European struggles

Arsenal's problems have not been limited to domestic tasks alone. Although they won the group stage against the limited opponent Vorskla in Russia, Qarabag in Azerbaijan and a slightly better sports team in Portugal, they have since lost twice after two knockout matches in the Europa League.

A 1-0 defeat by BATE Borisov in Belarus was humiliating given the financial and qualitative chasm separating the two teams, while a 3-1 defeat against Stade Rennais, the Ligue 1 midfielder, left the Gunners in a precarious position to qualify for the quarterback. -finals before their 3-0 win in the return.

Much has been said about Arsenal's favorable spell at the end of the season as they will not have to face any of their top six rivals. However, the defeats against BATE and Rennes show that they can not afford to underestimate their opponents.

Although not having to face a direct rival is an added benefit, there are many banana skin devices that could stumble Arsenal. Everton has won two wins and one of five previous matches between the two clubs at Goodison Park and is in good shape after winning two consecutive 2-0 wins over Chelsea and West Ham.

Watford beat Arsenal 2-1 in the match match last season and is a stronger team this season. The Wolves have only been beaten three times in 12 games against the first six this season. Leicester is well headed under Brendan Rodgers and Burnley sixth for the Premier League points earned in 2019.

How can Emery rectify the form on the outside of Arsenal?

The previous Arsenal Premier League game has been one of their best performances this season. Only a penalty of Hugo Lloris by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the additional time denied them the three points of the derby north of London at Wembley.

This encouraging demonstration could form the basis of Emery's tactical thinking beyond the Emirates for the rest of the campaign, since Arsenal not only smothered Tottenham's attack with relative comfort, but also a major threat to the future.

Emery has sometimes been criticized for taking a too pragmatic approach to outside games, including sacrificing one or two of his most creative midfielders and one of his top forwards in favor. Greater strength in the midfield.

In the 3-2 defeat against Southampton at St Mary's in December, the three teammates Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette were named to the substitutes' bench. Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were named to the substitutes' bench. .

Ramsey and Ozil were both absent from the starting lineup in January's 1-0 loss to West Ham at the London Stadium, and although Lacazette was Aubameyang's partner on that occasion, the duo was sorely lacking in service. quality, invoking a hit on the target between them.

Emery took the bold step of including the four players of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil and Ramsey early against Manchester United and Arsenal 2-0.

Arsenal's top four offensive players, reunited in the same lineup on this occasion, worked well with the Ramsey movement, Ozil's creativity and the brutal partnership of Aubameyang and Lacazette, which caused havoc. Sead Kolasinac's explosion on the left flank also gave a boost to Arsenal's attacks in the second half of the season.

Although Emery tends to adopt the pragmatic side of the game, Arsenal is undoubtedly a better player for the defense of his own goal than it should be and it is arguable that they have players to win prizes. victories far from home.

With the firepower that Arsenal has, they should be able to count on the other seven opponents. Achieve that and Arsenal will be badured of the Champions League football next season.