Ian Wright hits out at Arsenal pair lacking ‘chemistry’ as Arteta’s midfield questioned

Ian Wright claims the lack of “chemistry” between two Arsenal players cost them in defeat to Bournemouth and questioned Mikel Arteta’s midfield.

The Gunners lost their first game of the season on Saturday, going down 2-0 to Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium after William Saliba was shown a straight red card in the first half.

It’s the third time Arsenal have been reduced to ten men in the Premier League this season and they’ve failed to win any of those games, drawing with Brighton and Manchester City.

Wright claims “discipline is not a problem for Arsenal” despite those red cards and believes the fault for defeat lay with Ben White and Raheem Sterling, who struggled to cope with Cherries winger Antoine Semenyo.

Ian Wright, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, said: “Going into the [Bournemouth] game, with the way Bournemouth are and how hard they work and press – especially [Antoine] Semenyo – we [Arsenal] couldn’t deal with Semenyo in that game.

“It was Raheem Stirling and Ben White; they haven’t got the same chemistry as White and [Bukayo] Saka. We saw how much we miss someone like Saka – Semenyo was too much for us physically and skillfully.

“It’s still not quite clicking for Raheem. I thought it was going to be a tough game – I didn’t expect us to lose the game – but when you look at the two mistakes we made, you should get punished for those and we did.”

Wright also questioned Arteta’s midfield selection and believes in the absence of Martin Odegaard Arsenal could have done with someone more creative in the middle of the park, like teenager Ethan Nwaneri.

He said: “When I saw [Mikel] Merino, [Thomas] Partey and [Declan] Rice – I was thinking [Ethan] Nwaneri, the youngster.

“Against Bournemouth, you need someone who can do something [in the middle] and create something, because that’s what was majorly missing.

“We needed someone to beat someone with the ball – I would have taken a chance on him – I would have had Merino, Rice and Nwaneri playing in there [the number 10], to have something different.”

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Arsenal sneaked past Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday but face a tough test when they return to Premier League action on Sunday as they welcome league leaders Liverpool to the Emirates.

Wright believes it’s game Arsenal can’t afford to lose.

He added: “Knowing how hard it is to make sure you’re chasing down and staying in touch with them [Manchester City], the fact is, this game against this Liverpool side who have started brilliantly [is a must not lose game].

“Whatever people have been saying about how easy the start has been for Liverpool – they’ve made it easier with the way they’ve played and they’ve built momentum.

“They are coming to Arsenal now, and just like Bournemouth looked at that team sheet, thinking, ‘We’re going to have a go at them’. Liverpool will be thinking, ‘Let’s keep this tight and we can beat these guys’. It’s up to us to prove that they can’t. We’ll see – I’ve got pure faith in my manager.”