Albert Sambi Lokonga fails to impress vs PSV

Belgian midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga was disappointing for Arsenal as they slumped to a 2-0 Europa League defeat at PSV Eindhoven.

The Gunners had the opportunity to cement their top spot in Group A with a draw, but they were completely outplayed by PSV on their home turf.

The north London giants lacked the cutting edge in the final third and they were made to pay for their defensive mistakes by PSV after the interval.

Joey Veerman opened the scoring in the 55th minute before Luuk de Jong doubled their advantage, shortly after the hour mark of the game.

Barring one golden chance for Eddie Nketiah, the Gunners failed to create enough opportunities to avoid their first away loss in Europe since 2017.

There were several underperformers at the Philips Arena and in our opinion, Lokonga was one of those at fault for the opening goal conceded.

The Belgian completed 90 per cent of his passes in Eindhoven, but looked out of sorts after the interval and failed to track the run of Veerman.

His positioning without the ball has been concerning for sometime. There were no surprises that the 23-year-old was substituted in the 58th minute.

Mikel Arteta recently challenged Lokonga to prove himself on the pitch in order to secure regular minutes.

Based on today’s performance, he has not done much to improve his prospects. His displays may urge the Gunners to land a new number eight.

Arsenal have been overly reliant on Thomas Partey as the defensive midfielder for the Premier League games but his injury record is very concerning.

Hence, they need a top-class deputy behind him and Lokonga still has plenty to prove. The Gunners could revive their interest in Palmeiras’ Danilo.

The Gunners could persuade Palmeiras to sell with their Brazilian top-flight season concluding soon. The club did not want to lose him earlier this summer.