'I thought': Marc Guehi makes odd comment about Arsenal after 5-1 win over Crystal Palace
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During two fixtures in less than a week against Arsenal, Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi wasn't quite able to get to grips with Gabriel Jesus and his forward partners.
After a tight affair at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were comfortable winners against Crystal Palace in south London on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta's side once again made the most of their set-piece threat, with the cameras constantly turning to Nicolas Jover on the touchline.
Arsenal have a new star emerging in N17, and it's not just their Brazilian number nine who's suddenly added a ton of goals to the club's efforts.
Jesus scored his second goal courtesy of the mayhem Arsenal were able to create in the Palace box from a first half corner – deliveries neither Guehi or the likes of Maxence Lacroix were able to deal with.
Marc Guehi thinks Palace dealt with Arsenal’s set-piece threat ‘quite well’
Therefore, given how the home side struggled from Arsenal's corners, Guehi's comments to Premier League Productions following Palace's 5-1 defeat were slightly surprising.
Guehi was right to say that the game was a tale of two boxes – Arsenal made the most of their chances and the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta didn't.
However, Guehi's claim that Palace coped with Arsenal's set-piece threat 'quite well', seems a little wide of the mark.
Guehi said: "We’re disappointed. It’s not nice to lose that way. Heads are down and we have to go again.
"There’s moments we create for ourselves every single game, today we didn’t take them and they did.
“But I think tonight it was about both boxes. When we look back on it we didn’t defend well and a top team like Arsenal will punish you. We have to go again, look at the areas we can improve and take this game with a pinch of salt.”
Then, specifically on Arsenal's set-piece threat, Guehi continued: “We should have done better with the goal they scored when it was two versus two, but we didn’t follow our men on the second phase.
"Other than that I thought we actually dealt with their set-pieces quite well.”
Arsenal suffer Bukayo Saka injury blow
Without exaggerating, Arsenal's excellent win over Palace was slightly paled into insignificance given the injury that Bukayo Saka suffered.
Saka's injury, which appeared to be a hamstring issue, will be assessed over the coming days but it would be a surprise if he played any of the festive football given how he hobbled out of Selhurst Park on crutches.
Fortunately, Gabriel Martinelli is ready to play in a new position, evidenced by his efforts after Saka left the pitch against Palace.
Jamie Carragher shared his Saka injury plan for Arsenal, highlighting two players who could be crucial in making up for the absence of the England international.
A bitter blow for the Gunners who are on a high right now, but an absence they will need to cope with better than they did whilst Martin Odegaard was missing.
