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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made some mistakes leaving the Gunners vulnerable during the loss to Ligue 1 side Lens.
The Gunners lost 2-1 in France to struggling Ligue 1 side Lens in their second Champions League group stage match.
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23:59 - 03.10.2023
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Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring for the Gunners after a misplaced pass from Lens defender but the home side rallied back with an equaliser before the break and got the winning goal in the second half.
A lot of mistakes were made by Arsenal in the game, however, some of those mistakes can be attributed to the manager Mikel Arteta and we do a breakdown of these mistakes.
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1. Kai Havertz in the starting lineup
Many Arsenal fans are always worried when Kai Havertz is included in the starting lineup by Arteta in any match.
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Havertz has struggled since he joined Arsenal and has failed to impress, making fans lose faith in his ability.
The German’s presence in the midfield did not play any significant role which led to the team having less control of the game.
Arteta’s mistake in the match against Lens was giving Havertz another starting berth and should have left him on the bench and brought him in later in the game.
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2. Not managing Saka’s injury
Arteta has forced Bukayo Saka to play in recent games despite limping off against Tottenham and Bournemouth.
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Saka has been one of the consistent players for Arsenal in recent seasons and has not been given enough rest.
The England star could have sat out of the Bournemouth clash at the weekend but was included in the starting lineup by Arteta and limped off during the game.
Arteta could have also excluded him from starting against Lens but instead, he was included again and limped off in the first half.
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Arteta failed to manage Saka’s injury and his substitution in the first half also affected Arsenal’s movement in attack.
3. Substituting Zinchenko when he needed to attack
Another mistake Arteta made was taking off Zinchenko when he needed more bodies in the midfield to have more advantage in attack.
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Zinchenko is mostly known for his inverted playing style which benefits Arsenal’s midfield and gives the team more control when attacking.
However, Arteta decided to substitute the Ukrainian in the second half despite the fact that his team was losing.
The substitution had an effect in the final stage of the game leaving the Gunners limited control in attack.
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