Arsenal's Midyear Report Card
Which players are exceeding or falling short of expectations as we surpass the halfway mark?
Fans of Arsenal will feel like we’ve been here before. And yet…this season has been completely different.
Arsenal have the best underlying numbers in the Premier League, which pairs beautifully with their table-topping position.
They’ve also been far and away the best side in the Champions League, where they again top the table.
And while you might expect some of that is fueled by otherworldly performances the way Mo Salah seemed to always score for last season’s Liverpool, or how Erling Haaland seems to score nearly every match, Arsenal’s leads have been built largely on collaboration.
Through 32 games, Arsenal’s leading scorer across all competitions is Gabriel Martinelli, with nine. Leandro Trossard has scored seven times and Viktor Gyökeres has six, while Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino and Ebere Eze each have five (excluding penalties). Another five guys have scored at least three goals. Even the opposition has gotten in on the collaboration, chipping in with five goals towards the Arsenal cause.
It’s about the same on the assists front, where club leaders Trossard and Declan Rice’s six is under chase from nine other players with at least three assists, an incredible mark.
On a brighter note, all of this has unfolded despite ongoing health concerns within the squad.
At time of writing, Kai Havertz had appeared in just three matches across all competitions, playing just 62 minutes total. Madueke, Saka, Gyökeres, Ødegaard, Gabriel, Saliba, White, Calafiori, Hincapié, and Cristhian Mosquera are among the many who have missed weeks or even months with injuries at various points this season. If the parade of injuries ends or slows any time soon, surely Arsenal offer an even stronger group for what is sure to be a stressful run-in.
So, with the club threatening to win a league or CL for the first time in a long time and fresh off £300m+ in spending over the summer, we decided now is the perfect time for a man-by-man run through the squad with some brief thoughts on who’s been good and who needs improvement.
Join us below as we run through the organization and give them grade-school-style marks (at least the American version of them).
Keepers
