Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: The Debrief
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: The Debrief
Wasted chance made for a nervy finish, but an overall good performance
A match that has left people with mixed emotions but was still a win. The best kind to dig in and analyze. Let’s get into it.
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: The Graphics
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: The Debrief
The attack comes alive
19 - Shots for Arsenal, the most they have had in a Premier League match this season
16 - Shots from open play for Arsenal, the most they have had in a Premier League match this season
3.4 - xG (on my model, 2.8 on Opta) the highest non-penalty total Arsenal have produced this season.
2.2 - Post Shot xG for Arsenal in this match
4 - Big chances in this match, but all failed to be converted. Trossard 20’, Jesus 38’, Trossard 82’, Nketiah 88’.
32 - Deep completions from regular play, 5th most this season.
106% - Arsenal completed more deep completions than the expected passing model predicted
That is back-to-back good attacking performances for Arsenal. Trying to get back some semblance of the attack that powered Arsenal to a title challenge has been hard this season, now some green shoots are appearing.
Long may it continue.
Fast Start Returns
2 - Goals in the first 15 minutes here for Arsenal
0 - Goals in the opening 15 minutes for Arsenal before this match in the Premier League
I noted this change from Arsenal at the end of October, and it took another full month for the streak to end.
I highlighted this in my instant reaction but I think it is something being a bit over-indexed with the late goal. Getting ahead in this match basically won it.
Wolves really didn’t have a sniff at the game either, after scoring the two goals here is how the key stats looked.
Shots: 16 to 6
xG: 2.7 to 0.8
Touches in the box: 27 to 14
Final third touches: 211 to 95
A two-goal lead is pretty comfortable, not dangerous. No matter what the cliche or prominent bloggers say.
You know what would have been more dangerous? Having just a won goal lead so that the error instead of making the final few minutes uncomfortable, it would have been misery as Arsenal faced dropped points.
Obviously, it would have been great to convert any of the big chances Arsenal had in this match to make this a 3 or 4 goal lead and simulating the match suggests that it was more likely Arsenal would score 4 (and nearly 5) than just the 2 they actually scored.
The other encouraging sign I took from this is that Arsenal did not seem content with just the two goals with continued attacking until the game was into stoppage time.
Return of the Captain
90 - Pass Attempts, 1st among all players with 111.8% - Pass Efficiency, just crazy.
8 - Final 3rd Entry Passes
13 - Progressive Passes, 1st among all players (21 on the less strict FBRef measure)
9 - Box Entry Passes, 1st among all players
626.6 - Progressive Pass Distance, 1st among all players
6 - Key Passes, 1st among all players (all from open play)
1.92 - xA, 1st among all players
8 - Shot creating Actions, 1st among all players
3 - Throughballs completed in this match, before this he had just 6
1 - Shot, 1 goal, 0.14 xG
299.8 - Progressive Carry Distance, 3rd among all players
5 - Progressive Carries
11 - Final Third Entry Pass Received
2.41 - xG Chain, 1st among all players
8.4 - Fields Gained (total progressive distance passing plus carrying), 1st among all players
97 - Touches in this match, the most he has had in a match this season
54 - Touches in the final third, the most he has had in a match this season
22 - Passes completed to Bukayo Saka in this match
He was my stock rising in the instant reaction and looking back a day later and it is still an incredible performance from him. A return of form from him would be incredibly helpful for getting the most out of the attack.
Zinchenko giveth, Zinchenko taketh
72 - Pass Completed, 3rd on Arsenal with 96.0% Pass completion and 112.8% Pass Efficiency completing more passes than expected
15 - Final 3rd Entry Passes, led Arsenal
4 - Progressive Passes (14 on the less strict FBRef measure)
4 - Deep Completions
1 - Key Passes for 0.14 xA and an assist
4 - Progressive Carries
0.85 - xG Buildup
3 - Times Dispossessed
3 - Tackles
0 - Times Dribbled Past
1 - Interception
8 - Ball Recoveries, 2nd on Arsenal
2 - Clearances
4 - Losses of possession in his own half
We got to see the full Zinchenko experience in this match. He was key to the play in buildup and attack but he also showed that with the irrational self-confidence needed to play the way he does also comes with mistakes that can put the team under pressure. Mikel Arteta’s post-match comments seem to match his saying:
“You have to love him how he is. He has strengths and weaknesses and Alex has got many more strengths. This happened, it can happen to any player, we have to learn from it.”
I agree with the sentiment here, Zinchenko is incredibly unique and while he can be a target for opposition attacks and can be loose, what he brings to the team more than puts him into the positive side of the ledger. Even today with some mistakes his play more than made up for it and put him in the black for adding rather than subtracting to the team.