Arsenal at the Break

A title-contending lineup, do they have the depth?

We are going to make reports over hopefully all 20 Premier League teams leading up to the return of the best league in the world on Boxing Day. Get everyone all educated, it helps me to do these to understand what teams do and what their players do, hope it does for you also.

Tale of the Tape

The xG ratio matches Man City, and while they are a bit off the Citizens in the other 3 ratios it is not too far off and 2nd or barely 3rd in all categories (fields gained Liverpool top Arsenal by a yard).

Fields Gained is essentially how much they progress the ball over the entire field, with closer to goal weighted more.

Again basically, top of the line metrics across the board here. It is a complete team, not overly reliant on any one facet of the game.

Efficiency is fields gained per ball loss.

Field Maps

A map combining shot production with progression efficiency vs the average PL team.

A team that dominates the midfield.

On both sides of the ball.

Pass Clusters

Arsenal set up in the middle/attacking third and are titled toward the right side. Martinelli has worked more of an off-ball attacker down the left while Odegaard, the ball-dominant attacker, drifts far to the right to combine with Saka much more than Martinelli.

Arsenal tilt the field forward in a good way, so rarely have to play EmeryBall anymore with these small, pointless, defensive passes in their own half.

Arsenal do force opponents into these really bad types of small passes into the own corners which then lead to hit and hope long balls from the wide positions.

Opponents rarely get time to set up in the attacking zone, particularly not down the Arsenal right.

Arsenal are good at going back to front and creating a shot quickly, shown by these passes they generate shots from more often than other teams on. We also see this Odegaard/Saka area popping up again.

These passes are what opponents play but rarely produce shots on and show the Arsenal back-end strength pretty well, this is a team with strength up and down the pitch. Breaking out of the Arsenal field tilt does not open up easy attacks into the box.

This doesn’t just mean these passes happen rarely, but that each pass of this type is less dangerous against Arsenal.

Long balls down the Arsenal left have had some success in generating shots.

Attackers

Arsenal’s attacking strength is through the quarter all producing at a very high level, not one or two standouts at the very very top. Odegaard is probably the one standout if you have to choose one, handling the ball more, losing it less and progressing the team more but for the most part all 4 attackers are good at everything.

Martinelli has been a lower volume passer while he, Jesus and Saka take on players while Odegaard simply doesn’t.

Vieira looks well off the pace for now while Nketiah hasn’t reached the minute level to get included here, will be interesting how Arsenal adjust without Jesus.

Midfield

The midfield/fullbacks are interesting, Xhaka’s attacking role really stands out here. 15% of his take/ones of passes lead to a team shot within 12 seconds, a rate nearly twice as high as the rest of players in this category. It’s a crucial addition that pushes Arsenal’s attack into the top tier and allows fullbacks to remain more withdrawn to help the defense.

Zinchenko is a crucial player to Arsenal’s title challenge, he loses the ball almost half as much as Tierney while handling the ball a ton more than Tomiyasu and Tierney.

Tierney doesn’t look like a player that should be getting minutes at an Arsenal level club while I think there are lots of questions whether Tomiyasu is one at that level. Tomiyasu at least brings the high takeaway rate

Sambi doesn’t show up here but has devastatingly low attacking numbers.

Defense

Arsenal have just used two center backs primarily as their rock-solid defense has impressed all year. Gabriel has been a major threat with his headers, while Saliba’s passing has been even a level above Gabriel’s solid work. The team is generally in a much better spot 50% of the time 10 seconds after a Saliba pass compared to 44% from a Gabriel pass.

Gabriel gets involved in duels a lot more than Saliba, while winning at a bit higher rate.

Goalie

Ramsdale is never involved in Arsenal’s passing game, 59% as many attempts as the average Arsenal player which is tied for the lowest across Germany and England (Frankfurt’s Trapp and Ederson). He has allowed basically what you would expect (+.2 Post shot xG) and has been league average in leaving his box to make a defensive action. Comes for crosses a bit below league average.

Most Common Passing Combos

Progression

Shot Buildup

Rundown

Arsenal have top tier, title-contender numbers. If not equal to Man City, it’s not too far off. The worry is in depth: Vieira, Tomiyasu, Tierney, and Sambi have all shown a big drop-off from the starting player production and now they lose Jesus. Nketiah has shown more potential in his backup minutes but Arteta hasn’t shown any trust in him so far which throws off a few alarm bells.

A team that dominates the midfield completely with a pressing forward, a talented 3 behind him, and a central midfielder who contributes to the attack with a left back who also joins into the midfield a bit. This allows their very talented central pairing to be protected by fullbacks who stay deep and an old fashioned DM in Thomas Partey in front. It’s a team that has shown no weaknesses so far, and a fantastic accomplishment.

Going forward

The bookies say Arsenal are~30% to win the title and over 90% to make the top 4. Those both feel right, City are a better and healthier team but Arsenal are a real, legit challenger. It’s the bones of a Champions League winning squad.