Brentford 1-3 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta finds balance in his team without Bukayo Saka but do Gunners still need a new forward? | Football News happymamay

One loss, a talismanic injury, an illness that strikes the team and takes them further away from title contention. For half an hour, Arsenal were left cold in Brentford.

The usual questions were swirling as Brian Mbeumu put the Bees 1-0 ahead, with Arsenal going more than a quarter of the game without a shot on target and without an away win in the Premier League in almost two years.

Are Arsenal good enough to keep up with Liverpool? Is there a need for a striker in the January transfer window? Is Mbeumo that player?

An hour and three goals later, Arsenal have answered some of those questions, although they continue to be asked – particularly regarding whether Arteta’s side are short of numbers.

Arteta said: “When I see the team’s desire to play in anything, and the diversity that we can create within the team to play with our own idea, the answer is no.”

“But we don’t know if something else happens or we’ll have other problems. We hope we don’t. We hope we get people back. We need everyone,” he added.

The reasons why Arteta remains so confident in this team emerged against Brentford. For the first time in a while, there seemed to be balance on his team.

Typically, Arsenal relies heavily on the right flank, with nearly 50 percent of their attacks going to the flank where Bukayo Saka is usually located. The win over Brentford made the Gunners more dangerous across the board, as they were almost evenly split between all attacking routes.

Part of this is due to the level of the Brazilian duo. Gabriel Jesus has scored six goals in his last four matches, one more than he scored in his previous 48 matches.

Furthermore, Ethan Nwaneri’s positive introduction seemed a better fit than the right-handed option Arsenal had against Ipswich five days earlier.

But it was the form of Gabriel Martinelli that came out of nowhere, especially in the absence of Saka at the other end.

The Brazilian has scored 15 Premier League goals in the 2022-23 season, but his barren run has only just come to an end. His tally of four goals in three matches is more than he scored in his previous 26 matches. Something clicked, or is there something simpler?

Martinelli has more stability behind him. It was the first time Martinelli started with Riccardo Calafiore and Mikel Merino on the left for Arsenal, two players Arteta bought over the summer to try to improve the squad.

Both Calafiore and Merino are consistent, natural left-sided players, while Arsenal have been chipping away at different players in those specific positions. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Myles Lewis-Skelly play at left-back, while Jacob Kuyor and Kieran Tierney have struggled for form and minutes.

Calafiore is a more natural option that Arteta actually wants and seeks, same with Merino in midfield compared to Declan Rice and Jorginho. “We believe that with the unit on the left, we can get the dynamics we wanted,” Arteta said of the Spanish midfielder.

Comparisons have rightly been drawn between the Spaniard and Granit Xhaka, a midfielder alongside Martinelli when he reached double figures in the top flight with Arsenal.

With these combinations behind him, Martinelli looks like a completely different player. He created more chances than anyone else on the pitch against Brentford – and even more than any Arsenal player.

Merino also helps with his duel-winning and set-piece abilities, both featured in Arsenal’s second goal in west London – his second goal for the club, both coming from dead-ball situations.

Arsenal’s efficiency from corner kicks, in particular, is not a huge surprise given that Arteta was not asked about set-pieces at all after the match. It was their 25th goal from a corner kick since the start of last season, and no individual player has been able to achieve that number of goals.

Arteta added: “It is a great advantage for our team to share goals.” “Today we did it again and scored in three very different ways. Brilliant. This is what we need.”

So, if Arsenal maintain this balance and continue to spread goals throughout the team, they may not be as short as they may seem.

The presence of a prolific new striker would no doubt help matters, but Arteta’s side showed before they could go on the post-Christmas run necessary to win the title without the January additions.

Watch Brighton and Arsenal live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 5pm; Kick-off at 5.30pm