14 – Seconds from Ramsey’s tackle to Ramsey’s goal
4 – Passes in the buildup to Ramsey’s goal (Giroud -> Özil -> Walcott -> Özil -> Ramsey)
2 – Passes in that buildup by Özil
13 – Premier League assists by Özil this season¹
0 – Number of assists Özil has in all other competitions
1822 – Minutes Özil has played this season (2nd on Arsenal)
1890 – Minutes Cech has played this season (1st on Arsenal)
2070 – Minutes most fans wish Cech had played this season
7 – Clean sheets Cech has kept in the League (tying David James’ record)
11 – Clean sheets Cech has kept in all competitions for Arsenal
1800 – Minutes Monreal has played this season (3rd on Arsenal)
1731 – Minutes Cazorla played before picking up an injury for Arsenal (4th on Arsenal)
6 – Number of fingers Giroud held up at the end of the match which is a complete mystery, he’s scored five goals in the last three games, he has 9 League goals, 5 Champions League goals, Arsenal have won 3 in a row and scored 8 goals, Arsenal are also undefeated in just 5 games, though he has started the last 6 games and has 6 goals, but technically he’s started the last 11 and has scored 9 goals in that time. So, I’m not sure what the 6 was for, unless it’s the number of women (in millions) that he impregnated when he winked into the camera.
Post-Champions League
Before the match today I was a bit worried about the drop in levels due to the Champions League must win in mid week. There was a drop in levels, more on that in a moment, but Arsenal managed to gut out a win anyway. And with all the players Arsenal have injured at the moment, that’s a real coup and reveals Arsenal’s tremendous squad depth.
Still, I was curious how Arsenal fared after European nights these last two seasons and so I had a look:
2015/2016
??? – FA Cup or Everton
??? – FA Cup or Man U
Win – Aston Villa
Draw – Norwich
Draw – Tottenham
Win – Everton
Win – Man U
Lose – Chelsea, Dean heavily influenced, Gabriel wrongly red carded
2014/2015
Win – Newcastle
Win – Everton
Win – Newcastle
Win – West Brom
Lose – Swansea
Win – Sunderland
Lose – Chelsea
Win – Villa
Draw – Leicester (CL Qualifier)
Draw – Everton (CL Qualifier)
As you can see, this season has been and will be significantly more difficult than last and the Gunners have only lost one of those matches. It should be noted that the Chelsea loss was heavily influenced by referee Mike Dean and the two red cards he produced on the day, one of which was later rescinded and handed to the guy who should have been banned in the first place, Costa. That suspicious result aside, Arsenal are unbeaten after Champions League matches and against some tough competition (also Spurs) as well, and again, this shows the depth Wenger has built into this Arsenal team.
Tough Match After Draining Champions League Match
568 – Arsenal lead the League in passes per game
523 – Arsenal made 523 passes today
57.6 – Arsenal lead the League in possession
54 – They had 54% of the possession today
16.8 – Arsenal are 2nd in the Leagus in shots per game
8 – They had just 8 today
13.5 – Arsenal lead the League in Key Passes per game
6 – They only had 6 today
12.9 – Arsenal lead the League in successful dribbles per game*
7 – They only had 7 today
19 – Arsenal average 19 interceptions per game (3rd in the League — possession doesn’t matter, Wenger teaches his players to step in and win the ball in interceptions, better to start the counter)
9 – Arsenal only had 9 interceptions today
5.9 – Arsenal are 3rd in the League in shots on goal
4 – They had 4 today
3 – Arsenal lead the League and average 3 big chances per game this season
2 – They had two today, but one was a penalty, Arsenal’s first penalty of the season (Leicester already have 5)
2 – Arsenal’s position in the League table prior to the match
1 – Arsenal’s position in the League table as of publication
33 – Points Arsenal have earned this season
15 – Points Chelsea have earned this season
18 – Points difference between Arsenal and Chelsea
68 – Points a club will probably need to finish in the top four
53 – Points Chelsea need to earn in the final 23 games of the season to get to 68
2.3 – Points per game Chelsea need to earn to finish in the top four this season
1 – Points per game Chelsea have earned through the first 15 games
17 – Number of wins Chelsea needs, plus 2 draws, and 4 losses, to get to 68 points (or a combination)
81 – Points I think a club will need to win the League this season
48 – Points Arsenal need to win in the final 22 games of their season in order to get to 81
2.2 – Points per game Arsenal need to earn to get to 81 points
14 – Minimum number of wins Arsenal need to get to 81 points (W14 = 42 + D6 + L2 or W15 + D3 + L4 or W16 + D0 + L6
@7amkickoff
Sources: Transfermarkt, Opta, my personal database
¹Leads all players in Europe
Seems Giroud was trying to symbolize “50” – but went with 1 finger instead of a closed fist, for whatever reason. Just guessing, of course.
Also, isn’t Özil up to 13 assists now, including today’s?
I think he meant 50 goals and top of the league which why his other hand was signaling 1.
Nice work 7am – thanks!
According to the Premier League, Mesut has 13 assists
…and that’s Arsenal’s second penalty ( first was against West Brom).
1 – Number of Arsene Wengers there is
37 number of the bus Maureen will need to catch to take him to the job centre in the near future!!!!
“2070 – Minutes most fans wish Cech had played this season” – really think it’s time to get off Ospina’s back now. He didn’t have the opportunity of a run of games to make up for mistakes or bad performance. He is not at Cech’s level but was decent for us last season. Look a decent guy to have in our squad too.
Nice article as always though.
i think it can considered to be a praise for cech rather than a back-handed comment on Ospina.
Agree 100%. Ospina was more than decent – I remember so many people saying how secure, calm and reliable he was compared to Sczcesny. And clean sheets aplenty. He made a bad mistake but Cech and Neuer have both had howlers also.
And to be fair, the first two CL losses are meaningless now anyway. We still would’ve finished second in the group.
Thanks 7AM
What’s the * for in ” 12.9 – Arsenal lead the League in successful dribbles per game* ” ?
Excellent stats. Like many I’ll assume you blocked out the missed pen by Santi vs West Brom.
0 – number of clues Moyes has on top players
1,000,000% – how much better Ozil is than Moyes’ attacking midfielder Fellani
94 – Minutes after which Tottenham let in a comical goal to lose their match in the most hillarious way possible.
Very interesting the way you presented that last set of stats: Arsenal are more likely to win the league (assuming 81 gets us there) than Chelsea are to get fourth (assuming 68 will get them there). Now THERE’S some Christmas cheer. Thanks (as always) 7am.
Even if Chelsea finish 4 they could still end up in the Europa League. Either Liverpool or Spuds could win it and the automatic qualification to the UCL. That would be funny.
81 seems an unusually low point total for winning the EPL. I’m thinking 86 or 87 will be needed. Somebody will put together an impressive string of unimpressive wins and jack the requirement up. I hope our artistes can live with quite a bit of grinding. Having a squad deep enough to rotate injuries to key players may give us the edge.
Besides Man City and Arsenal, can’t see anyone else putting in an impressive string of results, and both Arsenal and Man City have a habit of going to pieces for parts of the season. I think this season is our best chance in a decade, even better than 2 years ago when we led for 2/3 of the season.
81 may be low, but so far only Leicester are on course to get to 80. The eventual winners may end up a bit higher (up to 85, I’d say), but the number of points you NEED to win the league is only whatever the second best team gets +1, and I think 81-83 is a reasonable estimate for that this season. I really don’t see both us and City putting the kind of run together to go to >82 simultaneously, and I don’t see anyone else getting to 80.
europa league winners do not replace the fourth team in the same way champions league winners do. If an english team wins the europa league and finishes outside the top four they will become englands fifth entrant.
Thanks for the correction. Isn’t that a bit weird though? Win the inferior competition and add to the numbers. Win the superior competition and replace the unlucky 4th place finisher. Of course, it’ll make clubs put out in the Europa League in a way they might not have otherwise.
That’s wrong as well though: neither replaces the fourth place team. The only way the fourth place team can miss out if if teams outside the top four win both the CL and the EL.
“2 – They had two today, but one was a penalty, Arsenal’s first penalty of the season (Leicester already have 5)”
Love this column, but I’m pretty sure Cazorla missed a penalty against West Brom!
The 6 is his number of goals against Aston Villa. Correct me if I am wrong.
Ozil at his best. Giroud at his best. Ramsey looking close to his crazy best.
Gonna enjoy the Leicester v Chelsea game. Either we remain top or more misery is piled on mourinho.
That’s a “no lose” proposition.
How much must we hate Chelski that we are willing to relinquish the lead of the League just to stick it to them and their stain on humanity manager… …. ah fuck it… Come on you Foxes. Vardy scoring 5 would help my fantasy team too. On the subject of Stains on Humanity, Tony Pulis again defending his teams thuggery after Mugsmashers game by saying sides in the PL coming to the top teams and ‘giving it a go’ makes it the best league in the world. Sorry Tony, nobody comes to England and goes, let’s watch Stoke or West… Read more »
It’s really difficult to wish ill on Leicester anyway. Go vardy! We’ll just deal with Leicester next time.
They’re not going to beat Everton next game!
I got Hector, Ozil and Alexis in my fantasy team.. who do I drop to bring Ramsey in now? @.@
Seriously, Hector. it seems from the last few games that inexperience or fatigue or the second season syndrome or a combination thereof is beginning to catch up to him. he is still playing well, just not at the ridiclously high standard he had set for himself so early.
he’s just back from a serious injury, he’s bound to be a bit apprehensive in his first few games back!
To get to 81 points, minimum number of wins is 13. (W13 = 39 + D9) = 48
It was great to see AR score. Hopefully this counter will be a main part of
the strategy. That’s how rf used it to beat AW regularly. The counter attack
must be swift and only two at most three passes.
In the past the gunners all day passing gave defenders less time to regroup.
Btw,it may not work all the time.
It was Theo’s brilliant through pass that made that breakaway goal yesterday. Perfect weight for Mesut to pick up, and his pass to Aaron to finish the move was pretty perfect too. Gave him his 13th assist of the season. Actually, I thought Theo’s contribution yesterday was underestimated — he worked hard, kept the Villa defenders guessing all the time, made some good passes, and like Campbell, he was often back defending, not just standing around waiting like people used to accuse him of doing. With a couple of games now under his belt, he just needs to find his… Read more »
Excellent read, as usual, thanks 7am but that was our 2nd awarded penalty, you’ve not included Cazorla’s slip and miss.
Love the fact we can lose 6 games and still win the league. I feel like we can do it.
Don’t love the “six games”bit of your comment.
After reading this, I’m all for a Leicester win. Fuck off Chelsea. And I’ve mentioned this before but Mike Dean hasn’t reffed us since that debacle at Stamford Bridge. A coincidence? Or did the FA really take action after the petition? Even if otherwise the petition is still a win for me, the next time Dean refs us and fucks us over the whole world will be bringing the petition story up all over again.
Apparently Giroud is the sixth player to reach 50 goals for Arsenal in the Premier league after Henry, Wright, Rvp, Bergkamp, Pires.. This is not checked, but could he have been referring to this?
Third lowest amount of games he needed to do it as well, so we’ll done Giroud! Love him and I think he IS world class.
7th? Theo has more than 50 too, quite possibly
What do you think the ‘T’ was for? Top? Thierry?
“Jose Mourinho once said to me, when
sometimes he would turn his back in training
with Real Madrid he could always tell when Ozil
struck the ball. It made a different sound” mark lawrenson said. I dont like being over dramatic praising players on form but when it is Ozil I actually believe this. Ozil is on fire and long may it continue. OT I am gonna cheer for Leicester City tonight.
Technically OG did score 6 goals past week though I would not brag about the 6th, even though it probably was the nicest finish..
Without trying to jinx anything, now would be a very opportune time to go on our annual 10 game winning streak. We almost always have one, but it’s normally to catch up with the top four.
If we could push on now there’d be no stopping us.
i think its a 80 81 pt season.so 14 wins minimum.We are going to draw or lose some.so spare the doom when it happens.even the invincibles drew 12 games-
I want to believe 6 is the number of goals, Giroud scored against Aston Villa.
Right?
what a game and oliver is very hot and ozil has justify his 42.5million tag
5 – The number of PL games in a row that Cech has had the chance to equal David James’ record of 169 PL clean sheets.
5 – The number of PL games in a row that the commentators have gone on about Cech having the chance to equal David James’ record of 169 PL clean sheets.
I really want arsenal to win the league this year. It will really be good for the game. Mr Wenger deserves this year’s title.
I hope we win against city comfortably.
Arsenal should try their hardest not to lose any game from now onwards.
So my eye’s didn’t deceive me and our overall performance levels were down 50% in terms of shots, key passes, dribbles and interceptions and i think that is a clear illustration of the qualities that Cazorla and Coquelin bring to the team.
Second half was a big disappointment as i thought we had a real chance to get a big score and extend our goal difference, which i think could be a deciding factor this season.
How does the situation in European league Ranking Look like? Is it possible that after this season Premier League loses one place? That would really tighten the battle upfront. Thanks for your answer.
it doesnt look likely at the moment. Italy are the rivals and they have only 2 teams left in the champions league. worse still for italy they drew real and bayern.
Little mistake here:
“7 – Clean sheets Cech has kept in the League (tying David James’ record)”
Sorry to get all teacher-like on you!
I think Giroud meant that he scored 5 goals for his team and 1 against.