4 things we learned: United’s costly conservative approach, Chelsea and Arsenal’s major slip-ups

Arsenal is back to its inconsistent (and losing) ways

The fact that Arsenal lost against Watford should not be a surprise for even the most loyal, die-hard fans. An away game against a well-coached, top half of the table team? That’s one of the many recipes for failure that Arsenal has “treated” its fans to in the past decade or so.

All the quintessential signs of a loss were there: Mesut Ozil missing a golden opportunity to put his team up two goals; the general malaise in play we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from the Gunners against pesky, motivated opponents; and finally Granit Xhaka literally picking his nose instead of tracking down the eventual game-winning scorer.

Just when it started to look like Arsenal would benefit from a softer midweek schedule by way of Europa League and be able to mount a sustained effort on a Premier League challenge, the Gunners reverted to their old ways of disappointing.

On one hand, this was not a surprising loss by any means, given Watford’s track record of late. The Hornets are sitting in a Champions League spot at the moment. However, if we consider the suboptimal level of effort and the missed opportunities to put the game away and secure all three points on the road against a tough opponent, it is a loss that Arsenal could hardly afford given their slow start to the season earlier on.

The win was within reach for Arsenal, and yet always unlikely given the Gunners penchant for blowing leads, especially on the road.