17 April 2023 , 13:14
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A week is a long time in football - just ask Mikel Arteta.
Prior to last weekend's frenetic 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, Arsenal were in pole position to end an agonising 19-year title drought ahead of Manchester City. But one week after blowing a two-goal lead on Merseyside, Arsenal imploded again against West Ham on Sunday.
The Gunners dropped precious points in the title race after spurning another 2-0 lead in east London ahead of their seismic showdown with Manchester City next week. The gap between Arsenal and Pep Guardiola's side now stands at just four points; but with City having played one game less, the defending champions know that they will be red-hot favourites to reclaim their crown if they can best Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal's recent collapse has coincided with the absence of first-choice centre-back William Saliba. The Frenchman has established a fine partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes but has been sidelined since last month's comprehensive 3-0 win over Fulham with a back injury.
In his absence, former Bolton defender Rob Holding has been drafted into an Arsenal defence that has stood firm for the majority of the season.
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However, the Gunners have failed to keep a single clean sheet in the four games that Holding has deputised for Saliba - including the results which has seen them drop points against Liverpool and West Ham.
Holding was less than convincing in either match, but Arteta had previously been warned that the 27-year-old isn't good enough by former Manchester United captain Roy Keane.
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Rob Holding has failed to convince in Arsenal's recent matches against West Ham and Liverpool (PA)Speaking on Sky Sports back in 2020 after the Gunners had lost to Liverpool, Keane said: "There's no getting away from that but he will still want some improvement. His hands are tied which is a big problem because he still needs a couple more players in. We saw again tonight that defensively – I still think David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding, there's big question marks over them. Luiz still has that mistake in him."
Although Holding has been on the periphery of the Arsenal team for much of the campaign, there is a chance that the centre-back could be handed a far more significant role during the title run-in if Saliba is unable to shake off the issue that has kept him out for the past few weeks.
Arteta made it clear after Sunday's match that he was less than impressed with the way Arsenal defended their box. He said: "We started extremely well again - dominated the game, dominated the pitch and scored two beautiful goals. After that, we made a huge mistake to stop playing with the same purpose to score the third and just think we could play around them and maintain that result. It looked too easy and at that moment we gave them hope and they took it.
"They did what they did really well - they started to play extremely direct, with long throws and winning corners. We really struggled to get out of that game. If you don’t defend your box the way you should, with the two goals we conceded, you have to do many things much better for longer periods in the match."