Arsenal were back at home and back playing at the classic 3pm kickoff time, with it they were back to their suffocating best. There are no easy matches in the Premier League, we repeat this all the time, but against Everton, Arsenal made it look like it was.
This was a rotated side coming off of short rest following a big Champions League match away at Bayern Munich. They delivered one of the most complete matches of the season that saw Arsenal move back into a tie at the top of the table.
Let’s break it down.
Arsenal vs Everton: The Graphics
Arsenal vs Everton: The Debrief
Arsenal return to dominance
49 - Touches in the box for Arsenal (the most this season), compared with 22 for Everton
55 - Touches in “zone 14” for Arsenal, compared with 25 for Everton
35 - Touches in “the shooting zone” for Arsenal, compared with 18 for Everton
244 - Touches in the final third for Arsenal, compared with 130 for Everton
It feels good to write something and then have the team go out and basically back it up for you in the next match. On Friday I made the case that Arsenal’s attack is much better than it is often talked about. No it isn’t elite but it’s also quite good and the tactics that Arsenal employ are optimized for Arsenal to max out their points totals.
To quote myself here is how I described Arsenal’s philosophy under Arteta:
Arsenal under Arteta have not been defensive, at least not in the classic sense of how we would think about a “defensive” team. Arsenal rather employ what I think of as the anaconda attack; they want to squeeze the opposition and ultimately suffocate them, creating overwhelming pressure that leads to them breaking through scoring goals.
I feel like that is exactly what we saw here in this match.
Of the 1281 total touches combined in this match 35% of them came in the third that Arsenal were attacking, with just 22% coming in the third that Arsenal were defending. The field was truly tilted and that led to a really one sided match for Arsenal.
With all of that possession and control, Arsenal were still able to generate their best attacking day in the Premier League this season.
20 - Shots taken by Arsenal - the most this season
2.38 - Total xG in this match (it is 2.29 with the conditional adjustment for shots in the same sequence) - the most this season
On the Everton side, they wanted to try and counter attack but couldn’t get anything going all match long.
Their best chance came off an Arsenal mistake, outside of that they didn’t register a single shot that was worth more than 6% at being scored.
A good day at the office for Arsenal.
Declan Rice is a machine
63 - Pass attempts (2nd on Arsenal, 2nd in the match), 55 passes completed for 87.3% pass completion percentage with a 108.4% pass efficiency compared to expected passing
6 - Progressive passes completed (tied 1st on Arsenal, tied 1st in the match)
9 - Final third entry passes completed (2nd on Arsenal, 2nd in the match)
4 - Shots assisted (1st on Arsenal, 1st in the match), worth 0.51 expected goals
8 - Shot creating actions (the two actions leading up to a shot) (1st on Arsenal, 1st in the match)
4 - Passes completed into the shot zone (the central area in front of goal) (1st on Arsenal, 1st in the match)
7 - Passes completed into the penalty area (1st on Arsenal, 1st in the match)
9 - Buildup actions (touches in a shot move, not counting the shot or the pass that set it up) (tied 2nd on Arsenal, tied 2nd in the match)
1.50 - Expected goals buildup (the xG of shot moves he joined, excluding the shot and the assist) (1st on Arsenal, 1st in the match)
Rice delivered a masterclass in midfield control and progression against Everton. He dovetailed excellently with Martin Odegaard and the two of them made it so that Arsenal suffocated any hope of a result for Everton. This wasn’t the classic Rice game, he didn’t need to be everywhere defensively (he was actually kind of quiet on that front) but he did provide the progressive spark that Arsenal needed in this match and was involved in everything.
Arteta has talked about how his role will be changing this season and if it is to be doing this week in, week out, we should be thrilled.
Gabriel Magalhães shines
53 - Pass attempts (3rd on Arsenal, 3rd in the match), 47 passes completed for 88.7% pass completion percentage with a 105.3% pass efficiency compared to expected passing
5 - Progressive passes completed (tied 3rd on Arsenal, tied 3rd in the match)
3 - Final third entry passes completed
2 - Shots, worth 0.60 xG, and converting 1 into his first goal for Arsenal this season
4 - Tackles attempted (tackles, challenges, and fouls tagged as an attempted tackle) (tied 3rd on Arsenal), 3 won for a 75.0% tackle success percentage
0 - Times he was dribbled past
2 - Interceptions (1st on Arsenal, tied 3rd in the match)
1 - Blocked shots (tied 1st on Arsenal)
8 - Clearances (1st on Arsenal, 2nd in the match)
It is really nice to see Gabriel’s name back on the scoresheet and his performance in this match fully deserves it.
He’s performed at a high level all season long and he has built up a real nice partnership with Ezri Konsa. It would have been understandable if Arsenal’s defense took a step back in the absence of William Saliba but the duo of Gabriel and Konsa has been able to maintain the incredibly high standard that is expected at Arsenal.