5 things that have gone wrong with Arsenal's season

#1 Their defence has been largely unsettled

Arsenal's defence - featuring the likes of Shkodran Mustafi - has been unsettled

It’s a well-known fact that to win a competition like the Premier League – or even get into the top four in such a competitive time – any team needs a strong, settled defence. Look at Chelsea last year, for instance, who simply took over the league once Antonio Conte settled on a three-man defence usually involving Cezar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill. This season they’ve had some defensive struggles and it’s largely because they’ve moved away from that settled system.

Arsenal meanwhile have largely stuck to the three-man defence that Arsene Wenger stumbled upon last season, but the personnel has seemingly changed from week-to-week. It’s quite telling that the only Arsenal players who have appeared in every Premier League game thus far have been goalkeeper Petr Cech, and wing-back Hector Bellerin.

The other defenders – Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal, Rob Holding, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac – have been in and out of the team through the season, with all of them playing in different spots in the three-man defence, too.

This unsettled defence may well be to blame for Arsenal’s poor record this season when it comes to goals conceded. They’ve leaked 28 in the Premier League thus far – the most of any side in the top seven, 7 more than close rivals Tottenham and 3 more than Liverpool, who have been lambasted for a weak defence.

And they’ve looked incredibly vulnerable in numerous games, particularly against their top six rivals. The failure to stick with a settled defence may cost Arsenal their Champions League spot and is definitely one of the biggest things that have gone wrong for the Gunners this season.