Weird Stats today. So far this season Arsenal have been finishing at a high rate and relying on opposition misses to win games but today Arsenal couldn’t get past the Spurs back line and failed to create anything meaningful, earning just two shots on target, with one coming in the 89th minute. Arsenal went 58 minutes between Iwobi’s weak shot on target to Giroud’s header. There was no real threat from Arsenal apart from those two moments.
Spurs were equally insipid. Their only goal came from yet another penalty in an Arsenal match. That was also Spurs only big chance in the match.
In terms of quantified shot quality (SQ) my shot chart give Spurs 0.84 xG and Arsenal exactly 1. So, the result was just about right, despite the fact that Arsenal needed an Own Goal to earn the point.
Arsenal – Spurs:
Passes: 303 – 390
Final 3rd Passes: 132 – 75
Defensive 3rd Passes: 40 – 116
Backpasses: 9 – 19
Passes in the 18 yard Box: 17 – 6
Chances created: 12 – 7
Big Chances created: 0 – 0
Dribbles: 5 – 12
Ball recoveries: 63 – 47
Tackles: 35 – 20
Interceptions: 34 – 15
Clearances: 15 – 30
Shots: 15 – 11
Shots inside the 18: 7 – 7
Shots in prime: 3 – 4
Big chances: 0 – 1
Goals scored: 0 – 1
11 – Number of Arsenal players who had at least 1 shot
2 – Number of Arsenal players who hit the target (Iwobi, Giroud)
5 – Number of Spurs who had at least one shot
3 – Number of Spurs who hit the target (Janssen, Eriksen, Kane)
40 – Passes by Mesut Özil (led Arsenal)
6 – Number of Spurs players who completed more passes than Özil
29 – Passes by Mesut Özil in the Spurs final 3rd (led all players)
73 – Percent of Özil’s passes which were in the Spurs final 3rd
41 – Passes by Eriksen
14 – Passes by Eriksen in the Arsenal final 3rd (led Spurs)
34 – Percent of Eriksen’s passes that were in the Arsenal final 3rd
5 – Chances created by Özil (3 from open play, led all players)
4 – Chances created by Alexis (all from open play)
4 – Chances created by Danny Rose (led Spurs)
2 – Chances created by Eriksen
6 – Dribbles by Dembele (of 6, led all players)
0 – Dribbles by Alexis (of 3), Walcott (of 1), and Iwobi (of 1)
10 – Ball recoveries by Xhaka (led all players)
5 – Ball recoveries by Wanyama
7 – Tackles by Xhaka (won 5, led all players)
3 – Tackles by Wanyama (won 1)
36 – Passes by Xhaka (2nd on Arsenal)
50 – Passes by Wanyama (led all players)
4 – Interceptions by either Wanyama or Xhaka
1 – Chances created by Xhaka
0 – Chances created by Wanyama
1 – Shot by Xhaka
2 – Shots by Wanyama
0 – Fouls by Xhaka
4 – Fouls by Wanyama (led all players, tied with Koscielny and Janssen)
13 – Touches by Ox
3 – Fouls committed by Ox
1 – Key pass by Ox
11 – Touches by Giroud
1 – Shots by Giroud (on target, header)
23 – Touches by Ramsey
2 – Shots by Ramsey (outside the box, off target)
1 – Boy Wonder Spurs subbed on for Kyle Walker Texas Ranger
7 – Penalties Arsenal have conceded or been awarded in 11 matches this season
0.63 – Penalties per Arsenal match this season
3 – Penalties awarded or conceded by Arsenal last season
0.08 – Penalties per Arsenal match last season
91 – Penalties in the Premier League last season
0.24 – Penalties per match in the Premier League last season
0.33 – Penalties per match in the Premier League this season (through matchday 10)
125 – Projected number of penalties in the 380 League matches this season
Follow up on the last post:
This is a comparison of shot quality by all the top teams, plus Tottenham. It shows Arsenal conceding too many big chances and shots in prime for my liking. Leicester did something similar to start last season and I said the same thing then that I’m going to say now: Arsenal need to tighten up and allow fewer clear cut shots and shots deep in the 18 yard box in order to be title contenders. Leicester did exactly that last season (after Arsenal thrashed them) and Arsenal would need a similar turnaround this season. Let’s hope it doesn’t take a thrashing to see the light.
@7amkickoff
Sources: Opta, my Database
Great analysis as usual. Thanks.
Amazed we had so few shots on target.
Clattenburg’s first ever penalty given against us I believe – did it have to be today? He didn’t have best game but then neither did any of our team!
Dembele was MOTM for me. Bossed the midfield. Overpowered our guys. I know this will be unpopular but I thought the penalty call was reasonable and, moreover, earned by his strong run. Feel we’ve been here before. Arsene’s lack of tactical nous continues to hold the team back. We’re now 4th behind three much more tactically minded managers, having just drawn with a fourth, who was missing several key players. At home no less. We barely threatened. They threatened more. We rely on amazing, last ditch, diving recoveries in our defensive box too often. When the odds play out, we… Read more »
Our players didn’t perform, couldn’t control the ball, bad touches, etc.
The oh so great coach from the other team couldn’t make his team score more. I think it was an even game – typical derby. No great football from either side.
Have to win against United though.
Completely agree: our players didn’t perform, couldn’t control the ball, too many bad touches, etc. Not sure what the issue was, but overall we simply didn’t click today.
Agreed on Dembele, that’s why I thought Xhaka didn’t have that great a game because he lost out to him head-to-head. He needs to be more mobile like Coqulien. I was a little surprised Coq went off for Ramsey instead of Xhaka but he’s the more creative of the two and he did improve with Ramsey on
1. Were we not missing Cazorla, and is he not a key (perhaps the most key) player? How about Welbeck, Perez, and Per? Perhaps they’re not “key” right now, but only because of the strength of our squad. And Giroud and Ramsey have only just come back. I’m sick and tired of everyone exaggerating Sp*rs recent injury list, when in reality it only effects them as much as it does because they’re squad is so much weaker than ours. They’re basically a team full of over-aggressive, hardworking, well-organized triers with 3-4 players of real quality thrown in, so when 2-3… Read more »
What did Dembele do yo get man of the match then?
“11 – Number of Arsenal players who had at least 1 shot”
Does this mean Cech had a shot as well? When did that happen?
Subs…
Surely the Iwobi chance is a ‘big chance’???
I’m guessing, but I don’t think it counts as he was further out than the penalty spot when he shot.
I went to the NLD today and the 2nd half was shambolic. One player that needs to be shamed is Ox. After the game some fans were waiting for him and his car drove straight past not stopping for them. After that shitty performance from him you’d expect him to at least give some time to the fans but he didn’t. Defended the Ox in the past but after today I’m not so sure. Can’t do that to people who pay so much money to see you and after you put in a shit performance can’t even stop for the… Read more »
Maybe he didn’t stop because he didn’t want to hear it from ‘fans’ so ready to abuse him.
If you notice that your Sp*rs is black and tarry such that it sticks to the toilet bowl, you should get it checked out. You may have Gastrointestinal Bleeding! Please spread the message. Having a good long look at your Sp*rs can go a long way for your health!
The November curse has struck once again. It will be interesting to see how many points will we get in November. Arsenal were poor today and they need to beat teams like tottenham to have a chance of winning the title. It was frustrating game to watch it
Lack of crosses didn’t help
No Cazorla, no win… Simple as that…
Spot on, I came on to post the exact same thing. Last year our season went to sh*t when Cazorla got injured, this season since he went down we have two draws, and we needed an amazing goal to beat our weakest Champions League opponent (In our group).
Bang on.we needed him so much.
Imho,Arsenal are too predictable in front of goal. The gunners indulge in an orgy
of passes infront of massed defences.This gives time for defenders to regroup and
deny time and space. Heavens help them if the ball is intercepted/
misdirected. That’s the cue for the quick counter.
Why not start shooting if there is a gap. This will open up spaces. Don’t be surprised
the gunners cant finish a s champs.I believe Wenger still wants to score the
beautiful goal.If you are winning ,all is well.
Wow, brilliant tactical analysis. No one has ever come up with the idea that Arsenal play too many intricate passes in front of goal before. And I’m sure if the players just shot more (like Ramsey did late in the game), the goals would really start flowing. You should get paid for this kind of insight and originality.
The cannons didn’t come out blazing. Be that as it may, I would take a draw over a defeat. We are still in the mix. Enough of this November curse nonsense. C0YG!
once upon a time it was “it’s only ray parlour”, now we lament the absence of our santi. ’twas ever thus. titi or alexis, there is that guy in the midfield, just behind the genius of viera or ozil.
I think we were totally confused by Spurs line up in the first 25 minutes. I’m pretty sure Iwobi and Theo had been given implicit instructions to nullify Walker and Rose. So with 3 at the back Alexis found himself having to press by himself. This is why it looked like they had all the time in the world to start play and it gave them confidence. I was happy to see us regroup and get better by the end of the half but what really, really frustrated me was that we came out in the 2nd half and froze… Read more »
We’re much better than in recent years but it is very hard to see us finishing above both Liverpool and Chelsea this season I fear. No European distractions for either of them, and younger, more flexible managers (NB I’m not saying Wenger’s rubbish etc, just that a select few younger managers are now clearly better than him). Decent point in the end because we lost focus / game plan at half-time.