ARSENAL 2–2 FULHAM: BY THE VISUALS
ARSENAL 2–2 FULHAM: BY THE NUMBERS
0 – Arsenal had never lost a home league game against Fulham (W24 D6) going into Saturday’s 3pm kickoff. It’s the longest unbeaten streak at home against a single opponent in English league history.
57 – Just 57 seconds into the match, Andreas Pereira capitalised on a poor pass from Bukayo Saka, and his attempted lob-come-shot (0.03 xG) caught Aaron Ramsdale flat-footed.
3 – Arsenal have conceded a goal within the first minute in three of their last nine Premier League home matches (against Bournemouth, Southampton, and Fulham).
Saka missed the best chance of the first-half when he miscued a header from six yards, sending it into the ground and over the bar (0.53 xG) after a cross from Leandro Trossard.
During the break, Arsenal trailed by a goal, despite having a higher expected goal tally (xG) of 1.41 compared to Fulham’s 0.3. The home side had taken 8 shots to Fulham’s 6, with 4 on target compared to Fulham’s 1, and had squandered the only big chance of the match up to that point. The Gunners had recorded 29 touches in the opposition box, whereas Fulham had managed just 4.
Gabriel Martinelli’s clever through-ball to substitute Fabio Vieira, the standout performer after his introduction, drew a foul in the box, allowing Saka to level with a penalty (0.79 xG, 0.99 xGOT) at the 70 minute mark.
3 – It took under three minutes for Arsenal to take the lead. Vieira spotted Eddie Nketiah’s well-timed run and delivered a low cross, as Eddie found the net for the second time in three games (0.25 xG), steering it beyond Leno.
Calvin Bassey saw red on 83 minutes, and that should have been it. However, Declan Rice and Saka failed to deal with a late corner, allowing Palhinha to score with a half volley (0.11 xG) and secure a draw for Fulham with 10 men.
19 – Arsenal took 19 shots, 16 (84%) were from inside the box, and Opta recorded 5 as big chances – situations where a player is expected to score.
1.60 – Arsenal’s open-play xG of 1.60 is the most they’ve achieved so far this season.
0.98 – However, their open-play xGOT of 0.98, derived from 11 shots on target, suggests an afternoon of subpar finishing.
1.4 – Eddie Nketiah is currently leading Arsenal’s non-penalty expected goals tally with 1.4 from 10 shots. He may have been disappointed not to start, but finally found the net as a substitute for the first time since April 2021 when he replaced Alexandre Lacazette and scored a late equaliser against Fulham as Arsenal drew 1-1.
FABIO VIEIRA’S GAME BY NUMBERS
76% pass accuracy, 27 touches, 5 progressive passes, 2 progressive carries, 3 passes into the final third, 1 pass into the penalty area, 1 chance created, 1 take-on completed, 1 shot and 4 defensive actions.
Mikel Arteta has made two surprising choices at the start of this season: Eddie getting a significant amount of playing time over Leandro Trossard, and Fabio Vieira coming on as we chased the game. Both decisions have proved wise. Eddie and Vieira faced criticism, but both show signs of improvement. During preseason, Vieira looked more confident on the pitch, especially in the left #8 role where he struggled last season.
Although many wrote him off due to his slow start in England, his potential has never been in question. However, he was always going to be a bit of a project to start with.
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When you concede a goal in the opening minute, it’s an immediate uphill battle. It’s a bit odd for this to have happened three times in a single calendar year, but it’s a problem that needs fixing immediately.
Arsenal showed resilience by fighting back to take the lead and should have been celebrating maximum points after three games. However, another recurring weakness from last season reared its ugly head as we conceded again from a corner.
2 – Arsenal have only kept two clean sheets in their last 13 Premier League matches at the Emirates.
Unfortunately, if you can’t keep clean sheets at home, you’ll eventually going to start dropping points. Let’s hope we can change that next Sunday.
Follow me on Twitter @jonollington
Sources: Opta, fbref, @Orbinho twitter feed
It’s very early in the season but it’s 2 points dropped versus man city who despite a shaky game against SU away, they still churn out a win.
Remember at the end of last season how we looked back on so many stupid points lost that could have easily seen us overtake those 6 points.?
I see it slightly differently, I recall how slow Man City were last season getting off the blocks onky to turbo charge pass us in the penultimate weeks of the season.
I wonder if we won’t benefit from a slower start while finding our best 11 considering we now have three big names having joined us… I suspect we remain sketchy post the interlull and hit form in the critical festive period. It might be acceptable while we don’t lose games perhaps score less goals and keeping in touch with the log leaders.
Very cool visuals, thank you for this content. Something I felt very strongly just subjectively watching the match was what a difference the substitutions made in the second half. Goals aside, I thought the introduction of a ball dominant player (two actually) in the left hand channel opened up the game for us. It’s interesting that that is not represented so strongly in the xT graphic as I felt it at the time.
Trossard again with a nailed on assist…
The first goal is on Thomas Partey as much as anyone. If you watch his movement, he switches places with Ben White and drops into the RCB position. Once we begin to progress the ball, he steps up into midfield and is then out of position for the backpass, both unable to receive it or to prevent Pereira from receiving it. It’s a basic rotation thing, just overly eager to get up the pitch. It’s hard to see what Saka is thinking with the weight and location of that pass, not hit hard enough to go back to the keeper… Read more »
While it’s true that Partey is our of position, Saka also shouldn’t have played the pass blind, and I’m sure Ramsdale will be disappointed by his part in the goal too. It’s a collective failure and obviously not the first time we’ve switched off from kick off. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call.
I think it’s hard to blame Partey for moving into the centre of the pitch, Saka has to look up before making the backpass and doesn’t. They obviously don’t have the same level of automation as when the triangle was Saka, Ode and White last year but that’s to be expected with a new way of playing. That said, it was an awful mistake.
Mental gymnastics to absolve Saka here
It’s absolutely incredible. We all love Saka. He made a mistake. It cost us a goal. Partey, White, Ramsdale, the head groundsman, none of them did anything wrong. I would love to blame this on the head of the Spanish FA. But it was Saka.
66% Saka; 33% TP5, 1% luck of the Fulham players, he will never put the ball there no matter how many more time he tries.
This is the first time ever since 1992 watching Arsenal and having no clue how and why we are set up the way we are. Ben White did and amazing job last season as a RB and built a great partnership with Saka and Odegard down the right but now he plays CB, and Partey who is best in the middle is covering RB? Gabriel who has a great partnership with Saliba is on the bench. Xhaka who had his best ever season was let go and his place we have a confused Havertz. Trossard is one of the best… Read more »
Wait, 1992? Where were you when Wenger played Ozil as left wing, the Ox as a left back and Sanchez as a striker so he could shoehorn Ramsey & Wilshere into the midfield?
I will let Wenger’s record answer your question.
Relax everyone. Even the invincibles drew games 😉
No shame to draw a match, but the way we played felt like a loss. To give away a goal so early due to poor team set-up, to miss so many chances, miss placed passes, and give away a lead with an extra player at home is just not good enough if you want to chase City.
I would like to see the comparison to last season, to see how we are now 10 times better.
At one point in the game yesterday I noticed we had a bunch of good shooting opportunities, but they were all straight at Leno, which the stats here back up. So I can understand how Arteta thought we played well, and it’s not his fault the finishing was off. That said, we look ponderous in possession, we need to move the ball faster, and nobody knows what he is doing with this formation, except trying to shoehorn both Partey and Rice into midfield without sacrificing Havertz at 8. Give it up!
Wish all this xg rubbish would stop! Making up stats to pad out already full statistic info is stupid. Pointless.
2 clean sheets in the last 13 home matches is just shocking.
not sure how you can spend 200m and be worse but Ok I guess?
Also; can someone tell Arteta that ‘unpredictable’ and ‘random’ are not the same. Because that’s how team selection is looking sk far
Does a pass leading to a penalty considered an assist?
No