An ailing Arsenal are desperate to stop their current slide in results after an unbeaten start to the Champions League ended at Inter Milan. The Gunners face a London derby showdown at Chelsea just days after succumbing at the San Siro.
Mikel Arteta's side recorded a second straight 1-0 defeat on Wednesday evening, having lost away to Newcastle by the same scoreline over the weekend. And there's a risk of the mood in north London worsening when they travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Yet Arteta was eager to focus on the positives when he addressed his players after Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty condemned them to another loss. The Arsenal boss spoke to the media following his side's third defeat in six games, revealing his pep talk after they came away from Italy empty-handed despite dominating for large portions of the match.
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"If we play the way we play, we‘ll have a big chance to win against Chelsea," said the Spaniard. "That‘s the way we have to go. I told them that I’m proud of them.
"I haven‘t seen them play in Europe in the manner that we have today. We are disappointed because we didn’t get what we wanted out of the game, that’s for sure."
Arsenal's streak of three successive clean sheets in this term's Champions League was broken thanks to the steady aim of Calhanoglu. The Turkey talisman - who has never missed a spot-kick for the Nerazzurri - tucked away the decider after Mikel Merino was adjudged to have handled the ball in his box on the stroke of half-time.
Despite their best efforts to hammer down the hosts' defence, the likes of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were stopped at every turn. Arsenal registered 20 attempts on goal to Inter's seven, yet it was Simone Inzaghi's side who registered the single statistic that mattered.
Arsenal also controlled almost two thirds of the possession in Milan and earned 13 corners to Inter's zero, another indicator of exactly how much pressure they exerted. But it wasn't sufficient to stop them stumbling down to 12th in the Champions League table.
Arteta went on to say Wednesday's performance was "by far the best one" Arsenal have played against big teams in Europe over recent years. The jury may be out as to whether that's accurate given the result, but the boss was clearly keen to boost morale among his troops.
The prospect of a trip to Stamford Bridge brings mixed signals on current form. Arsenal had to fight from two goals down to claim a point in their last visit to Chelsea more than a year ago, though they haven't actually lost at Stamford Bridge since August 2018.
Arteta's imperious record in this fixture is perhaps cause for comfort, as is the fact Martin Odegaard returned from injury with a brief cameo at Inter in midweek. And the Norwegian will look to have some impact in getting Arsenal back to winning ways in west London.
