- Arsenal v Sunderland: the battle of two teams for the longest spell in the top league
- Has Manchester C concluded a secret deal with the League?
By Tony Attwood
In terms of injuries, Arsenal have three players ruled out in terms of Merino, Saka, and Dowman, with Odegaard rated as 50/50.
But against this, we have Havertz back in contention, and although there is a huge amount of media sniggering about the fact that the top Arsenal scorer has only got six league goals, the fact is that Arsenal are still the second-highest scoring team in the league. Which is a contradiction that the media seem utterly unwilling to notice, or explain.
But although this little matter seems to be utterly beyond the grasp of most journalists, I have to say I would much sooner have an Arsenal team that scores goals from multiple players – especially in this environment,, when kicking the Arsenal forwards seems to be the prime way of tackling Arsenal utilised by many defences. The referees do little about it, so adjusting Arsenal’s style of play to share goals across the team, in this way, has been a superb idea.
Below is an index of what percentage of a club’s goals are scored by its leading scorers. And the point here is that the higher the percentage of goals scored by just one player, the more danger the club is in, because if that player gets injured, or is subjected to the sort of treatment regularly dished out to Arsenal players, the club very obviously instantly loses their key source of goals.
And although the club might have a backup player who can score goals, experience shows that it can take him several games to get into this stride and start scoring goals regularly when suddenly brought into the team to cover for an injured colleague.
The clubs in big danger of having one player out and through this losing a big source of goals are Manchester City and Brentford. But ManC have an insurance policy of also having Semenyo in the squad who can knock in the goals alongside Haaland at a similar sort of rate.
Chelsea and Aston Villa are also in some danger from this. But the vast majority of clubs only have one top scorer in their team and that’s that. If he leaves the squad, goals can dry up, for although most clubs have a reserve goal scorer, experience shows it can take him quite a while to get going in terms of the demands of Premier League matches.
Arsenal’s position, however, is unusual. Only 13% of their goals are scored by one player, and yet Arsenal are the second-highest scoring team in the Premier League. So while an injury to Gyökeres would be frustrating, it would not mean that Arsenal’s goals would dry up. He is not the one player upon whom the club is dependent for goals.
This story of course, is never told by the media, because it doesn’t fit with the “Arsenal are useless concerning everything” narrative. Of course, ManC are in a better position because they have two high-ranking players, and it is unlikely both will be kicked to pieces at once. But Arsenal’s situation of being the second highest scorers in the league but with no one player responsible for more that 13% of their goals is an absolute triumph.
And of course is ignored by the media. Indeed, more than that. It is interpreted as a sign of failure, rather than as a great success of Arsenal’s tactical approach. Here is the statistical comparison….
| Name | Team | Games played | Player’s goals | Club Goals | % goals by player |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | Man City | 24 | 20 | 49 | 41% |
| Igor Thiago | Brentford | 24 | 16 | 36 | 44% |
| A. Semenyo | Man City | 23 | 12 | 49 | 24% |
| Hugo Ekitike | Liverpool | 21 | 10 | 39 | 25% |
| João Pedro | Chelsea | 24 | 9 | 42 | 21% |
| D Calvert-Lewin | Leeds United | 22 | 9 | 31 | 29% |
| Jarrod Bowen | West Ham | 24 | 8 | 29 | 28% |
| Enzo Fernández | Chelsea | 23 | 8 | 42 | 19% |
| J-P Mateta | Crystal Pal | 23 | 8 | 25 | 32% |
| Harry Wilson | Fulham | 23 | 8 | 34 | 23% |
| Ollie Watkins | Aston Villa | 23 | 8 | 35 | 23% |
| Danny Welbeck | Brighton | 23 | 8 | 34 | 24% |
| B Guimarães | Newcastle U | 21 | 8 | 33 | 24% |
| Bryan Mbeumo | Man U | 19 | 8 | 44 | 18% |
| Junior Kroupi | Bournemouth | 19 | 8 | 46 | 17% |
| Morgan Rogers | Aston Villa | 24 | 7 | 35 | 20% |
| Phil Foden | Man City | 22 | 7 | 49 | 14% |
| Nick Woltemade | Newcastle U | 21 | 7 | 33 | 21% |
| Richarlison | Tottenham H | 21 | 7 | 35 | 20% |
| M Gibbs-White | Nottm Forest | 24 | 6 | 24 | 25% |
| Kevin Schade | Brentford | 23 | 6 | 36 | 17% |
| Raúl Jiménez | Fulham | 23 | 6 | 34 | 18% |
| Viktor Gyökeres | Arsenal | 22 | 6 | 46 | 13% |
Yes, curious though it can seem, having a top scorer who doesn’t score that many can be a complete benefit, if the team is packed with other players who can also knock in the goals. Arsenal this season have had 31 goals scored by six players, which means the opposition really don’t know who to mark. And whoever they choose someone else can come along and score.
