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Xhaka happy to host Brighton but rues repeat of Arsenal’s tricky travels

Arsenal’s Aubameyang

If there had not been such a strange discrepancy between Arsenal’s home and away performances this season, there would be no pressure on them to beat Brighton at the Emirates on Sunday and, more dauntingly, Burnley at Turf Moor next weekend. They would already be assured of a place in next season’s Champions League and could now focus on preparing for Thursday’s showdown with Valencia in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Instead, as Granit Xhaka admits, they go into the penultimate domestic match of the season aware that no matter what they do at the Emirates, their season risks being “killed” by their away troubles. That is a condition Xhaka finds irritating and perplexing.

“It is difficult to explain why we don’t take the same points in every game,” says Xhaka. “It’s so frustrating. If you look at our home form it’s so good. With seven or eight more points [away], we’d already be in the Champions League. This is the same thing that killed us last year. We hope it won’t kill us this year.”

Last season, under Arsène Wenger, Arsenal finished sixth because their home record – the second-best in the Premier League – was offset by their away record, the 10th best. Unai Emery has so far been unable to solve that. He has altered personnel and tried different formations, to little avail. At the start of this weekend his Arsenal had the third-best home record but were 11th in the away standings. They have been remarkably brittle on their travels, with only three teams – Huddersfield, Fulham and Bournemouth – conceding more away goals.

Xhaka rejects easy excuses. He says, for instance, that the recent defeats at Everton, Leicester and Wolves cannot be explained by fatigue. “Others are playing lots of games as well,” he reasons. “We are professional. We have to recover after games and do our best. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes not, but we know we must do more in away games.”

If home is where the heart is, he suggests Arsenal’s away problem may be in their head. “Maybe it’s a bit the mentality,” he adds. “The small details at this level are so important. Maybe we have to play different. All the teams in the Premier League can play football, they can fight and they can run. So it’s not so easy. But against Leicester we didn’t show this character and this team spirit we want – like we showed against Valencia [during Thursday’s 3-1 win at the Emirates], for example. That’s why we have to change it fast or it will be difficult.”

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Even if Arsenal win both their remaining league matches they may not make it into the top four but their chances of doing so will practically vanish if they fail to beat Brighton before attempting to win away at Burnley. That is very much the target, even if Xhaka believes that qualifying for the Champions League by lifting a trophy would be a sweeter route. “If we win the Europa League, it’s a title and you go straight through to the Champions League and maybe it’s a little nicer. But the Premier League is our first target. It’s 38 games and we’re still there [even if] everything is not in our hands.”

Arsenal drew 1-1 at Brighton on Boxing Day and Xhaka reckons he knows what to expect. Form certainly suggests Chris Hughton is unlikely to deviate from the blanket defence approach used when visiting the other team in north London in their last outing. Tottenham could not penetrate until an 88th-minute strike by Christian Eriksen. “I saw [that] game, which was 90 minutes in their own box,” says Xhaka. “[Brighton] just defended and defended. Tottenham were lucky in the end. We need to pass well and we have to try to score early, then the game will open up.”

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