Arsenal vs Leeds United: The Debrief
A day full of emotions ends with an emphatic scoreline
It is hard to beat the vibes that come with the first home match of the season and some how Arsenal were able to make it that much sweeter by putting together an exciting signing of Eberechi Eze and making the announcement before kickoff.
The crowd reaction looked electric, the announcement video deserves high praise given the team had minimal time to put it together and it hits you right in the feels.
The team then went and kept things on a high scoring five goals while keeping a clean sheet to move to the top of the early season table.
The high was dampened a bit with both Odegaard and Saka leaving early due to injury but the early reports are that they are not major injures so that at least gives some comfort.
Lots of good stuff to go through here.
Arsenal vs Leeds United: The Graphics
Arsenal vs Leeds United: The Debrief
2.9 - Expected goals for Arsenal, of that 0.8 came from the late penalty, 1.2 from other set plays, and 0.9 from open play
17 - Shots total for Arsenal, 11 of which came from open play
30 - Touches in the box for Arsenal
What a difference a week makes?
After struggling to create against Manchester United with 1.2 expected goals on 9 shots, Arsenal exploded with 5 goals from 2.9 xG and 17 total shots.
My expectations coming into this season would not have Leeds as a team quite on United’s level but not a total push over either even as a promoted club. It is still a time to be careful not to get too over our skis here reacting to new information but if we started to get a bit worried last Sunday this was a nice data point to help bring back some confidence that the team will be able to attack and score goals this season.
One of the big positives here for me in the attack was that we got to see Viktor Gyokeres make amends for his struggles against United by taking a similar ball in the channel that he stepped and tripped over into a goal today. He was able to cut inside beat his man and finish at the near post. It is always a positive when a big attacking signing can get that first goal in the back of the net and he didn’t wait too long for number too when he converted the late penalty.
3 - Shots total allowed by Arsenal in this match
0 - Shots allowed after the 20th minute Pascal Struijk shot.
6 - Touches in the penalty box for Leeds, with just 2 coming after the 20th minute
We can say much of the same that we had in the attacking section here in the defensive section, what a difference a week makes.
It was easy to get a bit worried after Manchester United peppered Arsenal’s goal with shots and put the defense under an uncomfortable and unusual amount of pressure. This week normal service was resumed, and Arsenal had a much more comfortable day.
There was really just the one real moment of true danger when Struijk got his head on the end of a corner kick but Raya made a solid save and that was just about it.
Speaking of a return to normal service…
Control returns
29 - Passing sequences of 7 or more passes for Arsenal in this match, compared to just 9 last week.
40 - Passing sequences of 5 or more passes in this match, compared to just 15 last week.
69% - Possession for Arsenal in this match, compared to just 39% last week
1.4 - Direct yards up the field per second while in possession for Arsenal in this match compared to 2.2 yards per second last week
This control really came in after Arsenal got their first goal to settle things for them and from that point on Arsenal really strangled the life out of this game. This 30-minute spell from 34-65 minutes is about as dominate of a period as you will see in a Premier League match this season.
Arsenal still looked to try and play quick/direct when the opportunity arose, but it did feel like there was a bit more balance to it rather than it being the only tactic and option that they wanted to try.
Even with a slower pace of play than they had against United, Arsenal managed to create three shots off a direct/transition attacks including the goal that Arsenal scored from winning the ball high up the field. That is a very encouraging sign overall because this was not Arsenal’s strength last season.
Madueke gets his first start
27 - Pass Attempts with 20 Completed
74.1% - Pass completion % on 100.3% Pass Efficiency
3 - Progressive Passes completed
2 - Key Passes for, 0.13 xA leading arsenal on shots assisted
0 - Shots
0 - Dribbled Attempted and was dispossessed 1 time
1 - Time Fouled
7 - Progressive Carries, led Arsenal
4 - Progressive Passes Received, 2nd on Arsenal
6 - Final Third Entry Pass Received, 2nd on Arsenal
3 - Touches in the box
0 - Tackles with 1 time Dribbled Past
1 - Foul committed
We got to see our first start for Madueke here and got to see him play from the left and the right-hand side in this match. We might unfortunately be seeing a bit more than we planned of him given Bukayo Saka will be a doubt for next weekend but what we did see here should give a bit of comfort.
This wasn’t the highest volume game from him with 0 shots and 0 dribbles attempted but his overall play here, especially when he moved to his more natural right hand side looked very positive.
Calafiori is showing how he can impact the attack
25 - Pass Attempts, completing 20
80.0% - Pass completion % with a 102.3% Pass Efficiency
5 - Final 3rd Entry Passes completed
3 - Progressive Passes completed
1 - Key Pass that was for an “assist” it was a great pass but Gyokeres did a lot of the work there to turn that into a goal
3 - Shots taken, this was a total of 0.7 xG but a big portion of that was hit “shot” that wasn’t connected clean leading to Jurrien Timber’s goal
2 - Dribbles Completed, out of 2 Attempted
5 - Touches in the box, tied for the most in the team
0 - Tackles completed, out of1 attempted
1 - Foul committed
It feels like we need to come up with a new name to describe the position that Calafiori plays in attack because fullback does not capture it well based on how we have seen every other full back play the position. Mikel Arteta has given him an incredible license to roam while Arsenal are in possession and it is something that seems to create good things every time he gets an extended period on the pitch.
The injuries last season really robbed the team of his much needed creativity and spark of chaos. I really hope that the team can keep him fit and able to provide this on a regular basis this season.
Max Dowman is wow
I can’t not mention him making his senior debut and it wasn’t just a final few minutes type either, he got a full 25 minute chance and he looked very bright. Also that kid can’t stop getting fouled in the box!
Arsenal have a real bright talent there.