Arsenal's draw at Crystal Palace meant they missed the chance to further close the gap between themselves and European football. They now sit four places off sixth placed Sheffield United, however, the side's development under Mikel Arteta is still the main topic that needs addressing.
The Gunners started brightly but tailed off towards the back end of the first half and as they have done in multiple games under the Spaniard. As Arteta has come in with high expectations, these may take time to meet but the Gunners still need to get to grips with them.
Along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's dismissal, Arsenal could be without Lucas Torreira which may prove crucial in the coming weeks. Both he and Aubameyang are key to Arteta's setup so how he will deal with their situations will be interesting to watch.
football.london take a look at some of the talking points from the draw at Selhurst Park.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles kept Wilfried Zaha quiet
Lost in the midst of VAR drama, red cards and injuries was the performance of Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Most of the praise he has received in recent weeks has been due to the change in his role under Arteta. Now he is being asked to play as an inverted right-back rather than an orthodox one that hugs the touchline and tries to break forward at every opportunity. This has also seem him defend further infield where he is less exposed.
Against Crystal Palace, however, when left isolated with Zaha, Maitland-Niles showed that he can also excel when asked to do a traditional right-back's job.
In the first half, whenever Zaha was found, Maitland-Niles' positioning was perfect. He wasn't too close to the point where the winger could turn him inside out but he wasn't too far so that he wasn't in control. As a result, he was able to get himself between the ball and Zaha effectively and keep it moving.
After the break, Palace tried to get take advantage of the space behind the 22-year-old but failed at this also. When Zaha was forced to try and retrieve through passes, Maitland-Niles ushered them off the pitch calmly.
He did make a rash challenge on Cheikhou Kouyate too get himself booked but other than that, he had a another solid performance and a defensive display that should be recognised.
Lucas Torreira's noticeable void
Part of the reason why Arsenal were so impressive in the first half vs Crystal Palace was their defensive contributions. Penning the Eagles in very often, they forced Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha to feed off scraps.
Torreira was vital in taking charge of the right half-space and stopping Zaha from getting a free roam. Shuffling up the pitch to meet him, the Uruguayan was his usual self and pestered Zaha multiple times.
Getting his timing spot on, he was even able to nip the ball onto Zaha and out to keep Arsenal higher up the pitch. With the winger growing more frustrated, however, this could have been what led to Torreira coming off at half time.
When Nicolas Pepe tried to head a loose ball away inside the Arsenal box, Zaha nudged Torreira into his fellow Ivorian.
In his post-match press conference Arteta admitted that Torreira was brought off because of a muscle injury but Arsenal looked completely different with him off the pitch.
Matteo Guendouzi had a good introduction, making a Torreira-esque interception on the edge of the Arsenal box but as the game went on, he became irrelevant. He didn't go hunting for the ball and was too cautious which allowed Palace to get the upper hand. If Torreira isn't able to make a swift return, the Frenchman must bring the urgency of the start of the season back into his game to help improve Arsenal under Arteta.
The David Luiz-Granit Xhaka relationship
Granit Xhaka has emerged as one of the most important players in Arteta's Arsenal rebuild and David Luiz is fitting a similar mould.
Although the Brazilian was at fault for Jordan Ayew's equaliser, he has been one of the Gunners main defensive assets under the Spaniard. Against Leeds, however, Arteta tried to unlock his great passing range once more.
The way he tried to this was by dropping Xhaka next to him as a left-back. This pulls a marker from midfield and out wide towards Xhaka and gives space for Luiz to move into centrally and Kolasinac further down the wing.
Continuing to work on this relationship at Palace, they looked much more comfortable and were a key reason to the Gunners great start. Kolasinac was freed down the wing multiple times, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was able to work off these movements and it eventually led to his opener.
"Arsenal began the game so well and we found it very hard in that opening 25 minutes to get close to them and really exert serious pressure," said before highlighting the pair in his post-match press conference .
"We screened off the balls into Ozil and Lacazette quite well but weren't able to get around to Xhaka and Luiz as we would've liked and they ran the game for 25 minutes showing a fine array of technical skill."
Arteta won't want to keep Xhaka next to Luiz like a babysitter for entire matches but finding out how to free them when Arsenal are under pressure could be something to work on.
