MIKEL ARTETA is still waiting for his first win as Arsenal boss after a Chelsea late-show at the Emirates.
Leading with ten minutes to go, Arsenal somehow managed to surrender a 1-0 lead and lost their fourth home match on the spin.
Meanwhile, RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano is tipped for a move tot he Premier League, with Arsenal among a trio interested in the young French defender.
Follow all the latest gossip and updates from North London below…
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ARSENAL must make a 'considerable offer' if they want to sign Thomas Lemar in January, according to reports.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is eyeing a move for the France winger in a bid to bolster his squad when the transfer window opens.
Atletico Madrid are believed to be open to letting Lemar leave having failed to live up to expectations since his £63million move from Monaco in June 2018.
The 24-year-old has struggled to adapt to Diego Simeone's tactics and is still waiting to register a goal or assist in the league this season.
Lemar scored just four in 43 appearances last campaign and Spanish publication AS report how they are willing to cut their losses if the right offer comes along.
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ARSENAL target Frenkie De Jong may be regretting joining Barcelona after admitting that the Premier League is the strongest in the world.
The 22-year-old was unveiled by the La Liga champions this summer having agreed a £65million deal from Ajax earlier this year.
De Jong has since settled well into life at the Nou Camp, but he admitted in an interview with The Mirror that the Premier League is superior to La Liga.
He said: “I used to think that La Liga was the strongest football league in the world. You could see their dominance in European Cup competitions.
“The Spanish clubs always progressed a long way and often grabbed the main trophies, the Champions League and Europa League.
“But the Premier League has gained power over the last few years.
“When it comes to pure skills, La Liga is better. But because of the sheer intensity, the English competition is at a slightly higher level.”
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A TRIO of Premier League clubs are ready to battle it out for highly-rated defender Dayot Upamecano, according to reports.
Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City have all expressed interest in landing the RB Leipzig man in a deal worth £50million in January.
The Bundesliga side are prepared to cash in if they can land Paris Saint-Germain youngster Tanguy Kouassi as his replacement.
They are already resigned to losing the 21-year-old talent after he refused to extend his current deal that expires at the end of 2021.
Arsenal are keen admirers and saw a £55m bid turned down in the summer.
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ALAN SHEARER believes there are encouraging signs at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, if they can keep their stamina.
The former Newcastle and England star exclusively told the Sun that the Gunners were excellent for the first 80 minutes against Chelsea, before faltering towards the end.
He said: “In the first half they looked compact and tight at the back – not something that can be said too often.
“The whole team appeared organised for large parts and it looked as though they had a different attitude.
“They put in a huge amount of effort, which they have regularly lacked in the past.
“Then, with just seven minutes to go, the old Arsenal came back to bite and they self-destructed.
“Firstly, you can’t legislate for individual errors with Bernd Leno, who has rarely been the culprit, gifting Chelsea an equaliser.
“Then, instead of settling for 1-1 which would have been a good result, they went charging up the pitch at the end and left themselves wide open at the back.
“Even then they could have stopped the winner, with Shkodran Mustafi needing to get tighter to Tammy Abraham.
“One thing Arteta will now definitely know is that he desperately needs to bring new defenders in if they are to kick on.”
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IF Arsenal were hoping to appoint a lucky general in Mikel Arteta, then the early indications are not good.
The new manager’s maiden home match was threatening to yield a first Premier League victory at the Emirates since October 6, when the Gunners led after 83 minutes.
Mesut Ozil had worked his conkers off, David Luiz was defending in a way so unrecognisable to his old Chelsea team-mates that he might as well have been wearing a Groucho Marx mask and a new-boss bounce was very much evident.
Then a major brain-freeze from keeper Bernd Leno allowed Chelsea to equalise through Jorginho — the sub who clearly should have been shown a second yellow card for a tactical foul just minutes earlier.
If that was unfortunate, what happened next was of greater concern for the Arsenal manager.
As soon as Frank Lampard’s Blues had equalised, belief drained visibly from Arteta’s team and audibly from Arsenal’s ever-pessimistic support.
Three minutes later, Tammy Abraham swivelled in the box and nutmegged Leno for a breakaway winner.It was Arsenal’s fourth straight defeat here in all competitions — their worst home run in 60 years.
For Lampard, this was a second away win at a major London rival in successive Sundays — which was just as well, given Chelsea’s home form.
Lampard and Arteta were midfield rivals during the glory days of Wenger-Mourinho grudge matches.Both sides have slipped out of title contention, though Arsenal tumbled further and surely face another season out of the Champions League after falling 11 points adrift of the top four.
Much more of this and we’ll soon be asking whether Arsenal are too good to go down. They are, of course, but it would be a weird one to even have to ponder.
It was Lampard, not Arteta, who showed sufficient wit to reshape his team mid-match and change the tide of the contest. Chelsea triumphed at Tottenham with a back three, yet they were over-run by Arsenal when employing the same system.Lampard sent on Jorginho after just 34 minutes, switched to a back four — and saw the Blues dominate the remainder of the match.
The Chelsea boss claimed it had more to do with increased desire than tactical tweaking, either way the change was dramatic.Arsenal started with a workrate and tempo rarely seen under Unai Emery and Luiz was wide with a scissors kick before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nodded the opener.
Ozil’s corner was nodded on by Calum Chambers and Aubameyang leant backwards to head home.
Alex Lacazette ought to have made it 2-0 but pondered and squandered his chance after a swift break from Reiss Nelson and Aubameyang.Ozil was joining the high press like never before and, more characteristically, produced a gorgeous chested knock-down — suggesting the man has ribs made of velvet.
On came Jorginho for left-back Emerson, with Fikayo Tomori to right-back, soon to be replaced by another Blues kid, 19-year-old Tariq Lamptey, who made an impressive debut.
And from there, Chelsea were tented up in the Arsenal half for most of the match, without creating much.Lamptey’s angled pass for Abraham was their most incisive moment — but the young England striker was denied by an excellent Luiz block.
After Ozil — actually sweating — was replaced by Joe Willock on 75 minutes, Arsenal began to sit back.
Then came the moment referee Craig Pawson will not look back upon with any great pride.
Jorginho, already booked, made a clear-and-obvious tactical foul to halt an Arsenal break with a tug on Matteo Guendouzi. Pawson was either unsighted or he bottled it — and Arsenal paid a severe price.When Mason Mount swung over a free-kick from the left, Leno decided to come off his line with a confidence which was extraordinarily misplaced.
The German barely reached the same postcode as the ball and a grateful Jorginho stabbed home after a tangle with Lucas Torreira, which left the Arsenal man floored and the goalscorer unmarked.
The winner came courtesy of a sharp break from Willian and Abraham, who exchanged passes twice before the Englishman turned and snaffled his 12th league goal of the season to tighten Chelsea’s grip on a Champions League place. To turn around this crisis, Arteta will require greater fortune than he received yesterday.But he’s going to need an awful lot more than just luck as well.
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