Arsenal supporters have welcomed the nursery freshness of life under Unai Emery, but there is a creeping familiarity to their disjointed first-half performances this season.

Cardiff City are the only other team who have not led after 45 minutes of a Premier League game, with Arsenal reliant on stirring second halves, unerring finishing and fine goalkeeping to come to their rescue.

The trend has not been without its positive features: Emery's in-game management and Arsenal's endurance have impressed and won valuable points.

However, if Arsenal are to achieve their objective of Champions League qualification they will need to eradicate such unevenness and find a way to impose their style on opponents from kick-off.

Only at Chelsea and Fulham, and at home to Liverpool, has Emery's team come close to doing that, so what are the reasons for this mysterious flaw?

The tangibles

Unbalanced team selections

Emery's knowledge of Arsenal's squad and his analysis of individual players reportedly won him the job, but could not have fully prepared him for working with his new charges at close quarters.

With Emery still acquiring new information about his players, it is only fair to grant him some leeway as we stand in mid-November.

The Spaniard's proactive substitutions, such as hooking Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey or moving Granit Xhaka to left-back while the game was level against Leicester, has put credit in the bank.