Arsenal warned that Premier League referees have cottoned on to 'dark arts' tactics

Arsenal's sly dark arts are being clocked by referees - according to former official Peter Walton.

The antics employed by the north Londoners, both when they're in and out of possession, have come under the microscope this term. Mikel Arteta's side have continued to have huge joy when it comes to set pieces with their corner routines proving very fruitful.

Gabriel scored the and just weeks later was on target at . have employed clever tactics from set pieces, often allowing the Brazilian centre-half a free run at the ball with their positioning.

Walton, who referee in the top flight for over a decade, remembers how employed a similar strategy but eventually people cottoned on to what they were doing. He fears the same is now happening with Arsenal, which could see referees intervening.

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He wrote in : "In my day, Chelsea were good at blocking opponents off the ball, but then referees and the media drew attention to their tactics and they were much more likely to be caught. I sense a similar process has happened recently with Arsenal’s set pieces."

Without the ball Arsenal too have been accused of employing dark arts. The Gunners have become increasingly streetwise as they've morphed into title challengers and much was made about the way they conducted themselves in their draw at the Etihad.

Bernardo Silva claimed that only one team came to play football as Arsenal attempted to dig in and hold onto their 2-1 lead when down to ten men. Arteta though cited the way his team crumbled when down to 10 men in 2021, where they lost 5-0 in Manchester, and was adamant they had to learn from the experience.

He said: “We had to play the game that we had to play. They played 30 seconds with 10 men, and look what they did. It’s normal what they did. Unfortunately we’ve been in the same situation [before]. We were in that same situation with Granit [Xhaka, when the midfielder was sent off] and we lost 5-0. We’d better learn. If not I would be very thick.”

Arsenal's tactics have cost them already this term. Referees are trying to stop players delaying the restart and that has twice cost the Gunners as they've had players sent off. In both games they dropped points with discipline costing them at this early stage of the season.

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