Major Arsenal weakness identified that Mikel Arteta must address during Premier League title race

Theo Walcott noted how Brighton & Hove Albion managed to isolate Oleksandr Zinchenko, causing him a headache during Arsenal’s 3-0 win on Saturday.

The Gunners managed to keep a clean sheet as they went back top of the Premier League after a solid showing away from home. Zinchenko has played a role in 14 blank slates this season and has been a regular under Mikel Arteta.

However, the Ukrainian has not always been as sturdy as fans would have liked when it comes to individual battles and Brighton made a point of trying to target the left-back in the first half, to some success.

Seagulls winger Simon Adingra managed to find some joy down the right-hand side and at times had Zinchenko on the back foot. This was noted by former Arsenal attacker Walcott, who flagged the trend during his half-time analysis for Sky Sports.

“They are doing really well at isolating Zinchenko on one-on-one situations,” he said. “I would have to say that Adingra, at times, is getting himself into some fantastic positions.”

While running one example passage on-screen, Walcott added: “You can see he is isolated one-v-one here, Zinchenko, and never really seems comfortable going back toward his goal. I almost feel like he (Adingra) runs out of ideas or overcomplicates it.”

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Brighton did not experience as much joy on the flank in the second half with Arteta appearing to address the issue by adding more coverage in that area. Zinchenko was replaced by Takehiro Tamoiyasu on 72 minutes.

The former Manchester City defender is appreciated by fans but a number are questioning whether the left-back position needs strengthening long-term. During the four Premier League games he was injured