If Arsenal don’t win the Premier League title, then only a handful of results have cost them.
The obvious one everyone will look at is their most recent defeat – at home to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
Not only did Mikel Arteta watch his side lose at home to Villa, but they were also beaten in the reverse fixture and remain the only team to do the double over them.
The game at the Emirates was the biggest talking point because of the team selection – Arsenal were still in the Champions League, at that point.
Not only did it frustrate fans that Kai Havertz, who has done so well as a number nine, played in the middle of the park, but also the manager’s decision to start Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Many believe Arsenal operate much better when the former Manchester City man isn’t in the XI and when Havertz is up top.
Richard Keys questioned if Arteta will ‘berate himself’ at the end of the seasons for making those calls, if it costs them the title, as he wrote in his personal blog.
Since then, Zinchenko hasn’t started for the Gunners and has played behind Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior.
beIN Sports presents Keys added ‘thank goodness Arteta’s obsession with Zinchenko, in that pointless inverted role, seems over,’.
He clearly wasn’t a fan of it all in the first place and, along with defeats to Fulham and West Ham United, it’s something that will haunt them if Manchester City do their job at hand.
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s inverted role for Arsenal
“Thank goodness Arteta’s obsession with Zinchenko, in that pointless inverted role, seems over,” said Keys.
“If they don’t win the title, I wonder if he’ll berate himself for playing the wrong team v Villa? I said on the Monday, after that defeat, he’d got it wrong, so I’m not trying to be clever now.
“Playing Zinchenko meant anchoring Rice and also giving Havertz a different role. It didn’t work. It doesn’t work. Havertz is an 8 1/2 – 9. On that subject – do Arsenal really need a proper 9? They’re the league’s top goal scorers – so why?”
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s importance has dropped
When Arsenal signed Zinchenko for £30 million during the summer of 2022, it rightfully delighted the fanbase.
He became a key player for the team and, for a period, they were doing nothing but win with him in the XI.
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But the defensive side of Zinchenko’s game has lacked, and since that 2-2 draw at Liverpool last season, his form has fallen off.
His importance to Arsenal has also diminished and you wonder where his future lies when the summer transfer window re-opens.