Arsenal news: Viktor Gyokeres raises issue as Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard reaction spotted

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For a good chunk of the season, Arsenal have been strong favourites for the Premier League title. But their hopes of ending 22 years of hurt suffered a serious blow on Saturday.

They lost 2-1 to Aston Villa , undone by an agonising injury-time winner from Emi Buendia. It marked just their second league defeat of the season, but allowed Manchester City to close to the gap between at the top to just two points.

The Gunners have now dropped points in three of their last five league matches. Perhaps more concerningly, they've started conceding goals at an alarming rate too.

After letting in just four goals in their first 16 games in all competitions, they've since shipped six in six. Once on course to break Chelsea's all-time record of just 15 league goals conceded in a single season, Arsenal's immediate priority is now simply regaining their form.

Saturday's defeat to Villa was a real setback - but the team will need to dust themselves off quickly, especially with a hectic Christmas schedule looming. With that in mind, here are the latest Arsenal-related headlines.

Viktor Gyokeres believes Arsenal are short on creativity at the moment. Responding to the weekend's defeat at Villa Park, the Swede urged his team-mates to be more inventive in the final third and to take more shots if they want to revive their title push.

"We have to keep creating chances and get shots on goal because then you'll eventually score more goals," Gyokeres said after the game. "If we focus on what we can control and do in our favour and focus on the next game, we'll be better, I think."

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After starting Arsenal's first 10 league fixtures, Gyokeres has been limited to an impact-sub role since returning from a muscle injury in November. He has six goals in 17 appearances across all competitions - numbers he may need to improve if he's to help fire the Gunners to Premier League glory.

Declan Rice was seen shouting at Martin Odegaard after the Norway international pulled out of a 50-50 challenge in the final moments of stoppage time during Arsenal's defeat to Unai Emery's side. The incident occurred just seconds before the London club conceded a last-gasp winner - one that may well have been avoided had Odegaard applied more pressure on Ian Maatsen.

Maatsen found himself surrounded by three Arsenal players, yet managed to wriggle free after Odegaard, who was first to reach him, appeared to hesitate rather than commit to a tackle. Rice was visibly furious, gesturing and shouting at his captain moments later.

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Odegaard did little to redeem himself for Buendia's winner, either. Having failed to track Boubacar Kamara's run into the box, he was caught ball-watching during a frantic goalmouth scramble - a sequence in which Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori threw themselves in front of shots in a desperate attempt to clear the danger.

The ball eventually ricocheted into the path of Buendia, who curled home from close range with the last kick of the game. Despite Odegaard's shortcomings, Mikel Arteta refused to single out any individual after the match.

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