You have to go back to the 2-1 victory against Sheffield United at the end of September to find the last time Arsenal scored from open play in the league.
It has been six hours and 26 minutes since Nicolas Pepe’s fine individual effort added to Bukayo Saka’s earlier header against the Blades. Defeats against Manchester City, Leicester and Aston Villa have followed, with the victory over United representing Arsenal’s solitary success.
What had been a fairly encouraging start to the new league campaign has now flipped into one that is being viewed as cause for concern, and not just because of the losses, but because of the style of football and the struggle for goals.
Arsenal have scored just nine times in their opening eight matches of the Premier League season; that is their lowest goalscoring tally since the start of the 1998-99 season.
