One of the best stats that Arsenal possess at the minute in the English Premier League is the goals conceded, and if Vito Mannone plays on Sunday then we will have a keeper who has not conceded any league goals. Szczesny blundered to allow Southampton a consolation but the good form of Mannone should help the Polish international to sharpen up.
Steve Bould can take a lot of credit for the improvement in the Arsenal defence, as can the whole back four. Mertesacker has looked like a new player and Vermaelen is a rock. TV5 has been a lot more disciplined, allowing Gibbs to go forward knowing he is covered. The captain has made nine tackles, winning them all with two as the last man. He has made 13 interceptions and has a passing completion of 88 percent. His only run forward came when Arsenal were comfortably leading and it ended up as a goal for Walcott.
Mikel Arteta has been a great help in front of them. Arsene Wenger is now looking like a genius for selling Alex Song and dropping Arteta back as a pivot. Our Spanish midfielder has made a phenomenal 19 tackles and 12 interceptions, only losing possession once, while his distribution is even better. Total passes of 378 at an accuracy of 93 percent tells you why he is so important to the team. Arsenal fans who think we miss the long range passing of Song may be interested to know that of 29 long passes, Arteta completed 27.
Further forward Arsenal have another pivot in Santi Cazorla but in a more creative role. The new Spaniard is second in the league to Leighton Baines for chances created, but only because Baines takes free kicks and corners for Everton. Cazorla has created 14 chances from open play, one every 25 minutes. Add to this his 86 percent passing accuracy in the final third, his goal and two assists and you cannot believe we got him so cheap.
To top it off, Arsenal have two strikers with two goals and Podolski had an astonishing 100 percent pass success rate against Southampton. Of course, stats are not everything but they do make nice reading. Let’s hope we have stats of 11 points on the board on Sunday night.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH YOUR MATES! Tags: Arteta, Cazorla, Mannone, Podolski, VermaelenCategory Arsenal News, Premier league news
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