Thursday, March 28, 2024

Arsenal 3-1 Sp*rs: By the numbers

One of the things that made me chuckle in the lead-up to this match were the comments that because Tottenham wasn’t playing well but they were still getting points, while Arsenal WERE playing well (while also picking up points) that this was something that should be a plus for Tottenham rather than a red flag.

I think that this match showed the differences between the teams.

I don’t think that this was an outstanding performance from Arsenal. Yes, it was good, but this wasn’t all that close to Arsenal at their best. Yet it was good enough to dominate for long stretches in this match and showed that Artetaball has a much larger margin for error than Conteball.

When you invite pressure and shots, looking to create a few good chances on the counter or from set plays you have to be perfect in defense and clinical in attack. That wasn’t the case today and Arsenal punished them while opening up a four-point gap.

NORTH LONDON IS RED

Arsenal 3-1 Sp*rs: By the numbers

Arsenal 3-1 Sp*rs: By the numbers

22 – Shots for Arsenal, the third time this season that Arsenal have topped 20 shots. This is also the fourth time this season that Tottenham have allowed 18 or more shots against them

3 – Goals for Arsenal, the fourth time this season that Arsenal have scored at least 3 goals this season

9 – Shots on target for Arsenal, the most Arsenal have had in a match this season and the 6th time they have managed more than 5 shots on target in a match.

2.3 – Expected goals (xG) for Arsenal, the fourth time this season that Arsenal have created at least 2 xG this season

4 – Shots by Gabriel Jesus, including 1 goal from 1.4 xG and 3 shots on target

5 – Key passes by Bukayo Saka, with 0.2 expected assists

2 – Goals from midfielders! And what splendid goals they were.

3 – Shots from open play for Tottenham in this match. This is the 5th time that Arsenal have allowed 5 or fewer open play shots from their opponent.

7 – Shots total for Tottenham in this match, this is the fewest shots they have had in a match all season.

0.6 – Tottenham’s expected goals excluding the penalty, this is the second lowest tally that they have created this season and it does include a 0.4 chance that might have been offside from a set play.

324 – Touches for Arsenal in the final third

84 – Touches for Tottenham in the final third

53 – Final third touches for Gabriel Martinelli, leading all players

16 – Final third entry passes completed by Oleksandr Zinchenko leading all players, Tottenham as a team had just 14.

59 – Touches within 25 yards of goal for Arsenal

18 – Touches within 25 yards of goal for Tottenham

15 – Touches within 25 yards of goal for Martinelli, leading all players

42 – Touches in the box for Arsenal

14 – Touches in the box for Tottenham

13 – Touches in the box for Gabriel Jesus, leading all players

Coming into this match, Arsenal were second in attacking third touches in the Premier League and Tottenham were allowing the second most attacking third touches. It was a stark contrast in how the teams want to play and that continued in this match. Even during the later parts of the first half and Spurs were looking the most dangerous, Arsenal managed to have more possession close to the opponent’s goal. This can be an effective style but man it must be dreadful to watch on a regular basis.

2 – The number of times that an Arsenal player was dribbled past in this match. Arsenal were 13 of 15 on their tackles in this match and when they were beaten they ensured that Tottenham could not cause additional damage and had some good cynical fouls.

10 – The number of times that a Tottenham player was dribbled past in this match

4 – Dribbles completed by Martinelli in this match, leading all players

58 – Progressive carries in this match for Arsenal

11 – Progressive carries for Martinelli, leading all players

0 – Times that Harry Kane was able to beat William Saliba in a foot race

4 – The points gap between Arsenal and Tottenham

1 – Arsenal’s position in the table for at least another weekend

Enjoy the weekend

@oh_that_crab

Sources: Opta via Whoscored, StatsZone, my own database

 

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Gregory Nah

Yes we’re ready now for the trophy 🏆 and there is nothing that can stop ✋ Us 😀. Gregory Nah, Jr.

Daveo

Great win. Dominant in the opening stanza and second half. Pity about the penalty. The only blemish. Seriously purring right now the arsenal. Beautiful stuff!

Ozzie

I’d like to see the stats for penalties awarded in north London derbies over the last 30 years.

Nainsley Aitland Miles

Penalties scored in the Premier League;

Arsenal 10. (8 home; Wright, Wright, Henry, Lauren, Gilberto, Gilberto, Aubameyang, Lacazette), (2 away; Pires, Lauren).

Tottenham 12. (5 home; Keane, Van de Vaart, Kane, Kane, Kane), (7 away; Sheringham, Van de Vaart, Adebayor, Kane, Kane, Kane, Kane).

But we won the League at White Hart Lane.

Goonerink

So we’ve had 2 in the last 10 years Vs spurs 7?

C-Dog

We had at least one away that we didn’t score… Auba in the 90th minute in 2019, urgh

Walter White

James Last six (or seven?) goals against Arsenal have been on penalties.

ArsenesLongSufferingZipper

5 – Amount of ice (liters) in William Saliba’s veins in place of blood.

Mohd Fauzan Salleh

When you see Mbappe cannot get past Saliba how do you expect Kane to get past him. 😆

Rohan Batra

1 – Number of Nutmegs by Willy Saliba

Spanish Gooner

I think our low Xg in the first half was affected by our decision to take long shots more often, which was the right decision. Conte invites teams to try to play through them by crowding the box then having the chance to hit them on the break, which is why teams often lose after having more of the ball. Today we took advantage by firing off shots from range, forcing them to break the block and close us down or giving us the chance for some shooting practice. This mature, adaptive version of Artetaball showed he learned his lessons… Read more »

ClockEnder

100% you could see that we chose to take quality shots from outside the box and it honestly felt a matter of time before one went in considering how much space they gave us there.

78/79/80

I was wondering why Arteta did that pointing at the ground thing in his celebration of TPs goal. Reading this I wonder if it was a ‘plan came together’ kind of gesticulation.

Gunfoo

^^^ this! ^^^

Partey gonna shoot

Well, I did saw this coming from Partey! 😉

C.B.

Great stats as always, thanks. Field tilt very strong plus our defending to give them v few chances. Would love us to get the contracts for Saka and Saliba, plus Xhaka done asap so we can relax on that front. But lots to enjoy atm!!!

PeteyB

Who’d’ve thunk we’d be talking about a new Xhaka contract in the same sentence as a Saka contract 6 months back?!
Redemption
I absolutely love it.

Gunfoo

I know we signed him as a midfielder hardman. But makes you wonder what sentiment we’d have for Xhaka if we’d used him in the right position all along?

Granit(e) hard!

I know right?, unbelievable

Badaab

5- number of shocking fouls Eric dier was allowed before seeing a card, including one on Jesus which was as much a penalty as the one they were awarded

A Different George

I just don’t think this is a match where we should be complaining about the referee. He gave Emerson a red card which, though I believe it was justified, very few referees would have been brave enough to give. All the other debatable calls looked to even out to me.

Badaab

Every match, regardless of who is playing, has had shocking officiating from the pgmol, despite their claims that the standards are high. Until something is done and these refs are accountable for their inconsistencies, we have every right to complain

Goonerink

Tbf I think Emerson had been warned about his fouling at half time.
I think Emerson was of the opinion he could do as much damage as he wanted until he saw a yellow and ignore the refs words.

ClockEndRider

I think Emerson had been given a royal roasting (see what I did there?) by Martinelli all game and he took the opportunity to inflict a bad foul about as far away from his own goal as possible, relying on the usual appallingly low standards of English referees to give him a ticking off, at worst a yellow. For once the referee actually took the correct course of action. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he had the man in his ear telling him it was a straight red.

Joy

He was a cun*t as usual. Gave every 50/50 to them. They nearly scored from a free kick that wasn’t at 0-0. Only reason he sent that little sh*t off was a word in his ear through the mic

Podb

Yes, VAR guru Jared Gillette is now the best a man can get … usually he’s robbing us. Taylor was once a ”disgrace to his federation” but did send off Victor Moses in a cup final we won.
Bring on Liverpool, we have been super quality so far and the players are tight.

A Different George

I am sorry, but this is just crazy, paranoid shit. This was the referee of our last two FA Cup finals. In each one, he sent a Chelsea player off. One of those was a second yellow for diving. Does that sound like someone who is biased against Arsenal?

Carlos

Where’s VAR though? That’s their job to step in (penalty box in incident) but they did 0. As usual.

ClockEnder

As you’ve noted there xG massively flatters them. Richarlison’s shot wouldn’t have counted. They had NOTHING.

Fenko

On another note, can Arsenal hold a “Thank You” party for fans who have stood by this team all these years of harrowing defeats, embarrassments and failures?
Many of us practically developed some mental issues, high BP, depression by seeing our team failing year after year.
Now the joy in our hearts at the moment is unquantifiable. I am so happy to be part of a team that invested in youth and stood behind a rookie manager.
I so much love ❤️ this team and long may our success continue.

Yiannis

The team is holding a party for us every week

Crash Fistfight

What was the xG for the Jesus goal? Has got to be at least 0.99, surely?

Scott Willis

0.95 which is basically the limit of things

Badaab

95% to hit, just like xcom

timorous me

I feel like we witnessed a few misses by Auba back in the day that basically help explain where that .05 comes from.

Ah, well. Those days feel like ages ago. Thank god we can laugh about them now!

Adney Toams

Yeh, good luck to chelski! Wonder how long Potter will put up with his non-commitment!

TeeCee

I can see why. Even given an unattended goal, perfect conditions and a ball merely trickling across the six yard box, there’s always a chance of the striker Giggsing it over the bar into row Z.

Tired

What’s that odd line in the xg graph hust before the first goal?

Scott Willis

The timing of things got a little off

Alex

William Saliba is yet to be successfully dribbled past by an opponent in his 720 minutes of PL football this season. He has also won posession more times (71) than any other player in the league.

Granit(e) hard!

Amazing! This kid really is one hell of a baller

Goonersince55

This confirms one thing I did notice: Harry Kane has lost a yard or two of pace. Doesn’t bode well for the World Cup, especially as he can’t expect the preferential treatment from referees he gets in the PL.

Zadok the Regular Dishwasher Salesman

He’s still an amazing player though. Everything he did in the first half looked good. But I agree it’s not just his talent at playmaking that’s caused him to drop to number 10, there wasn’t ever much danger of him beating Saliba or Gabriel in a foot race.

TeeCee

He’s not looking good in a “whose got the most medals” contest either.

Santa’s Thigh Grab

He’s been off the pace for a bit now, saw it last season as well, dropping deeper and can’t get into the box. I can’t think of a player I have disliked as much and hope he has a shite season.

Gunteta

Richarlison trumps Kane for me in that department. I can’t stand the sight of him.

Mark Hazelwood

Love it. Especially the last few custom metrics 😁😁😁

Kostas

The media are trying to downgrade our victory by saying that we were lucky to score first and if they had first we would have lost.
The last ten years we ve been suckerpunched with lucky goals , unfair penalties unfair red cards. Then they said we don’t have the “metal”.
Well now we do.

Zadok the Regular Dishwasher Salesman

Sometimes the best thing to do with “the media” is ignore it. Shit like Talksport isn’t even trying to tell the truth or offer insight, all it wants to do is create drama and interaction to sustain itself. You can enjoy yourself much more sometimes by just ignoring it entirely.

Steven

So this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but I never understand how lightly touching your head to another player gets you a red card, but Kane can totally kick a dude who is on the ground and it fine.

Thand al’Ror

Insignificant things like “rules” don’t apply to England Captain Harry Kane.

Naked Cygan

No matter how we calculate and analyze numbers, sp*rs are still sh it.

TeeCee

Yes, but what sort of shit?
Are we talking a solid, depth-charge 1, a splattery, liquid 10 or somewhere between?
Numbers are important.

Jesus of Sao Paulo

Stinky liquid 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩

Chilli

Hey everybody, German fan here. I was wondering, since I can’t go to games and am stuck watching them on TV, if it is true that Tottenh*m get battered everywhere they go?

chepetin

Yes indeed. In fact, they will be in Frankfurt for Champions League so if you’re in the area you should go witness the battering in person; it’s much better live than on TV

Ian Metherell

Numbers don’t lie. We were by far the better team. If only we were more clinical in finishing brilliant attacks with a goal. My nervousness over defensive errors leading to silly goals given away has lessened now that Partey, Xhaka, Saliba et al are so strong. COYG

Cooked Patino

Nice as always Scott. You didn’t add the graphic for player networks. I checked the Brentford stats again and discovered it was removed even though I remember seeing it there before. Am I missing something?

Scott Willis

It is on my twitter feed if you are interested

Cooked Patino

Alright. Will check it out

Gooner 49

Jusat seen the Manchester derby score- thats where should have been yesterday. NO QUESTION.

Jesus of Sao Paulo

0 – number of trophies in the Tottenham trophy cabinet since the beginning of this millennium. BOTTLERS

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