“I don’t want to sound unprofessional but I’m sick of him at this point. He’s not adding any value to this team”- Arsenal star Thomas Parteye angrily puts blame on his teammate as Chelsea go above Gunners

Mikel Arteta admitted the magic was missing as Arsenal missed a golden opportunity to edge closer to Liverpool at the summit of the Premier League following a “very disappointing” goalless draw with Everton.

Arsenal dominated Saturday’s fixture against Sean Dyche’s resilient Toffees at the Emirates, but the sluggish league contenders were guilty of failing to create enough clear-cut chances.

Arteta points to the fact they broke the club’s all-time goalscoring record last season with pretty much the same players and indicates they can do the same again. After matches such as this, their sixth and insipid defeats at Newcastle and Bournemouth it is hard to believe they will come good. They have scored 29 times from their first 16 matches compared to 33 at this stage last season and 40 times two seasons ago.

Against Everton, who came for a draw and defended magnificently, they had 77% possession and enough chances to win but have now failed to score in five of their 24 matches in all competitions this season. That compares to only eight times in 52 matches last season.

Kai Havertz was supposed to be the new 20-plus goals-a-season forward. He has five in the Premier League out of ten in total, so could get there but, again, matches such as this do not support the confidence his manager has in him. He touched the ball only 38 times and only four times in Everton’s penalty area.

Asked to explain away his side’s inability to create and score, he conceded: “Sometimes our positioning in the box was not perfect. They are a tough team to break down and we did not manage with the final details in the box. Liverpool dropped points? We look at ourselves and try to win games and the most frustrating point is that we did not win. We had to win that game. We have to stick together as a group and be better maybe next time.” 

Crystal Palace away is the ‘next time’ in the League, this Saturday night. They host the same south London rivals at home in the League Cup on Wednesday first. And goalkeeper David Raya insists there is no cause for concern. The Spain international, who had a very good game despite not having a single save to make, said: “We are frustrated, of course. It’s a point on the board but I thought we did everything to get the three points. The ball didn’t want to go in the net. I thought we created the chances; we dominated, we kept them quiet. They only had one chance in the first half, and I thought we played really well. It was just that threat in the final third that we have to materialise the chances that we had.

“I don’t think it’s a confidence thing. I think it’s just football. Sometimes you score from set pieces, sometimes you score from open play. I think we are very dangerous in both ways. Everton defended very well and they’re a good team in those situations. We don’t think too much ahead, just go game by game and it’s very early in the season; we’re only in December and there’s a lot of games to play.” 

Rays also insisted he had a very busy match, mainly playing as a sweeper keeper a, trying to generate attacks and keep the ball in play as much as possible. Jordan Pickford, the Everton keeper, might argue he had more of a say on the outcome of the match. The England No.1 said: “We stuck to the game plan and suffered to dig a point out. The discipline is there and against Arsenal you will take a smash and grab point all day long. The lads made some brilliant blocks and headers and I made a few good saves and that’s what it is all about.” 

Everton’s fourth goalless draw this season was a positive for them and their manager Sean Dyche, who relishes the opportunity to frustrate teams such as Arsenal and coaches such as Arteta. He is not the first and will not be the last to set a side up this way against Arsenal and the onus is now very much on Arteta to up his side’s game.

ARSENAL: Raya 6, Timber 6, Saliba 7, Gabriel 7, Lewis-Skelly 7 (Partey 69) , Odegaard 6 (Nwaneri 62), Rice 6 (Jorginho 62), Merino 6 (Jesus 69) , Saka 8, Martinelli 6 (Trossard 74), Havertz 6. Subs: Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Sterling.