KEY POINTS

  • The setback has been categorised as 'minor'.
  • Arsenal suffered their third consecutive away defeat.

Arsenal will be without the services of Aaron Ramsey after the Welshman missed the north London derby with a groin injury. The setback has been categorised as 'minor' but the midfielder was sorely missed against Tottenham as they succumbed to yet another away defeat, putting their hopes of making the top four in disarray.

Ramsey was the hero against Everton, scoring the first hattrick of his professional career as the Gunners smashed the Toffees 5-1 at the Emirates. The Welshman was expected to carry his form to Wembley when they took on Spurs but his unavailability led Arsene Wenger to pick Jack Wilshere in the starting eleven, but the England international failed to have the desired impact.

"Rambo misses today's game with a minor groin problem - get well soon, @aaronramsey," Arsenal wrote on Twitter.

The Gunners fought toe to toe with Spurs in the first half and were unlucky to have gone into the break without anything to show for their efforts. Henrikh Mkhitaryan got into a few good positions to play in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but failed to make the most of the opportunities, something which was later discussed by Arsene Wenger.

Wilshere also played in Aubameyang in the first half but the Gabon international was deemed offside in what was a very tight call by the linesman. The Gunners had an opportunity to level the game at the end through Alexandre Lacazette, who was presented with two gilt-edged chances, but the Frenchman failed to make use of the opportunities at hand, leaving the Gunners seven points behind Spurs.

"Possession is basically 50/50 in this game. Firstly, I think the game should have been finished at half-time for me. We missed opportunities on counter-attacks that are not missable at our level, due to the final ball," Wenger spoke after the game on Arsenal's official website.

"In the second half, we should have lost the game by more than one goal at the start. We were destabilised by the goal they scored and they had two or three more opportunities that they could have scored. In the final part of the game, we should have come back to 1-1. That maybe would not have been enough, but would be better than being 1-0 down.

"Overall, we've got mixed feelings because for long periods in the first half, with a bit more quality in our final pass, we would have won this game."

Arsenal FC Tottenham Hotspur FC