Arsenal conceding late goals is not a defensive problem for Mikel Arteta - it's an attacking one

Another fright before Christmas. Arsenal never seem to do it the easy way.

Brian Brobbey at Sunderland. Emiliano Buendia at Aston Villa. Toru Arokodare against Wolves and now Marc Guehi versus Crystal Palace. "It's something we have to improve, we're conceding in the last minute," said goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga after the latest one.

Four goals conceded in the dying minutes of matches should concern Mikel Arteta. Except they are not, at least according to what the Arsenal boss says.

• Got Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone?
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW?

Normally such a trend would cause angst and doubt about a team's credentials - especially a side like the Gunners who have struggled to make that final step in recent years.

That doubt would even hark back to the days when Arsenal were frail at the back under multiple managers - Arsene Wenger's late years, Unai Emery's entire tenure and even the early era of Arteta.

But the reason Arteta is not concerned is because Arsenal's troubles late on in games are not defensive issues - they are attacking ones.

"The margin should have been much bigger," said Arteta after the Carabao Cup win over Palace on penalties, referring to the 1-0 lead Arsenal took into stoppage time - something they also did at Sunderland and Wolves.

"That should have been three or four, and then we're not worried about what happens in the last minutes."

That was certainly the case against Crystal Palace - and once again Arsenal's attack seems to be drying up in December.

In incredible numbers, it has been over 300 minutes since an Arsenal player scored a non-penalty goal. Since the hour mark in the 3-0 win over Club Brugge, the Gunners have relied on three own goals - two from Wolves and one from Palace - and a Viktor Gyokeres penalty at Everton.

Own goals and penalties are not something to be ashamed of - they are the sign of creating chaos among the opposition defence that force mistakes. But the data shows Arsenal's players should have scored at least six times in their last three games - yet couldn't manage one.

It is not the first time this has happened for Arsenal in the festive period. In December 2023, they suffered back-to-back league losses around Christmas to Fulham and West Ham and exited the FA Cup despite dominating Liverpool with chance after chance.

Twelve months ago, Arsenal had back-to-back draws with Fulham and Everton in December. Their 1-0 win over Ipswich straight after Christmas was far from convincing attacking-wise. They then exited the Carabao Cup despite dominating the first half of their semi-final first leg with Newcastle.

There's a trend there - and it looked set to continue against Palace on Tuesday night, where Arsenal had 25 shots without finding the net themselves.

Noni Madueke spurned a first-half hat-trick, Gabriel Jesus was denied in either half by the excellent Walter Benitez in the Palace goal - while Jurrien Timber was also guilty of a couple of missed chances before the game went to penalties.

Yet Palace snatched a result in normal time - and the game felt similar to Arsenal's woes last season. The Gunners drew 14 times in the Premier League last campaign - only Everton had more - with a lot of those stalemates being 1-1 draws.

They have tried to address that by adding more layers to their attack. The likes of Gyokeres, Madueke, Eberechi Eze and even Martin Zubimendi were brought in to add an edge to the Arsenal frontline - in a bid to get that second goal before the opposition get back into the game.

It appears to have worked. Forget '1-0 to the Arsenal', it's actually 2-0 which has been the most popular scoreline of their season so far.

Arteta's side have recognised the need to get that decisive second goal quickly - the fact they have gone 2-0 up inside the first minute of the second half on three separate occasions shows it is a key part of the Arsenal coaching staff's team talks.

But that hasn't been the case in recent weeks. Arsenal have been falling back into their old habits of sitting on slender leads.

Had VAR been more strict on William Saliba's challenge on Thierno Barry at Everton, Wolves' Yerson Mosquera not headed into his own net at the Emirates or Palace won the lottery of a cup penalty shoot-out, then Arsenal would be heading towards another crisis situation at Christmas.

The fact Arsenal are still winning games despite late goals conceded is testament to how well they prepared for this season in terms of squad depth and game management.

But they need to be more ruthless up front if they are to finish the job. They cannot have a dry January after a hectic December.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Arsenal conceding late goals is not a defensive problem for Mikel Arteta - it's an attacking one