Manchester United suffered back-to-back defeats after going down 1-3 against Arsenal in the English Premier League. Arsenal took an early lead through Nuno Tavares and were soon 2-0 up. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Granit Xhaka’s long-range effort sealed the win for the Gunners.
We’ve broken down all the key stats for you to digest, including;
* shot maps
* xT (expected threat)
* pass networks
* xG timelines
* defensive duels
* average positions and much more!
We also try to answer some questions for you with the visuals;
What were the xT creation zones for Arsenal? How many dribbles were attempted by Manchester United?
To navigate the stats gallery, simply click on the numbers to move through the pages.
At the end of the gallery, you’ll be able to download the full PDF stats report.
Mikel Arteta’s men lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Eddie Nketiah once again leading the line in place of Alexandre Lacazette.
By looking at the average position of the starting XI, we can observe that Martin Odegaard once again drifted towards the right side, and this allowed Bukayo Saka to play further up the pitch.
Harry Maguire was dropped to the bench and was replaced by Raphael Varane. Cristiano Ronaldo also returned to the starting XI after missing the match against Liverpool.
The average position of the starting XI indicates that most of the attacks were formed on the left side of the play.
Arsenal had 57% of the ball possession and created 30 positional attacks in the match. Manchester United players created 21 positional attacks, along with three counterattacks. The Red Devils had a high duels win rate and also made more recoveries than the opposition.
Bukayo Saka attempted five shots for the Gunners and created the highest xG rate in the match. Scott McTominay impressed a lot in the midfield. The Scotsman attempted eight passes in the final third and also won the highest number of aerial duels. Both teams attempted a combined total of 20 crosses.
Arsenal attempted 14 shots in the match, and seven of them were on target. Of these 14 shots, nine were attempted from inside the opposition’s penalty box, and four of them were on target. Granit Xhaka scored his goal from outside the opposition’s penalty box.
The Red Devils attempted 13 shots with a shot accuracy rate of 38.46%. They attempted eight shots from inside the penalty box and managed to hit the target three times.
As indicated by the expected goal and xT timelines, Arsenal dominated the first half. Mikel Arteta’s team tried nine times and created more threats. Manchester United started to gain momentum towards the end of the first half and maintained it into the second. Ralf Rangnick’s men failed to try any shots in the final 25 minutes of the game.
Mohamed Elneny attempted the most passes for the home team. He attempted 71 passes, and 16 of them were towards Granit Xhaka, who was on the receiving end of the most number of passes.
Left-back Alex Telles attempted the most passes for the Red Devils. He attempted 59 passes, nine of which were towards Bruno Fernandes.
Martin Odegaard attempted 49 passes, and seven of them landed inside the opposition’s penalty box. These 49 passes included three smart passes and two crosses.
Cristiano Ronaldo attempted 24 passes, and these included three smart passes and a cross. Of these 24 passes, three landed inside the opposition’s 18-yard box and one inside the 6-yard box.
The xT timeline shows that Arsenal created most of the threats from the right side. For the Gunners, Martin Odegaard created the most dangerous threats from passes.
Martin Odegaard attempted the most dribbles for his side, but it was Eddie Nketiah who created the highest threats from dribbles.
Manchester United created threats from the wider sides but struggled, like their opponents, to create more threats in the final third. Nemanja Matic provided the only assist for the away team and created the highest threat from passes.
Jadon Sancho attempted eight dribbles and created the highest threats.
The home team only won six aerial duels, and most of them were inside the defensive third. Cedric Soares and Nuno Tavares won two duels each.
Arsenal also struggled to win aerial duels and only won three. Nuno Tavares, Ben White, and Gabriel won one duel each.
Granit Xhaka had a good game in the midfield, and the Swiss international won four loose ball duels.
Alex Telles contested 11 defensive duels and only won one. Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, and Juan Mata won two duels each.
Manchester United players won six aerial duels each in the defensive and middle third. They only lost five aerial duels in the match.
The Red Devils won four loose ball duels in the defensive third. Alex Telles and Nemanja Matic won two duels each.
The home team won only one corner, and that was on the left side. The home team won 12 free-kicks, but none of them in the final third.
Manchester United won seven corners, six on the left side. The Red Devils only won two free-kicks inside the opposition’s half.
Arsenal dominated the game and created more threats towards the opposition goal. They have now won two games in a row against the top teams in the league and look like the favourites to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season. Manchester United, on the other hand, have suffered back-to-back league defeats and are struggling to find form.
If you want to download the stats report in PDF format you can do so here: Premier League Stats: Arsenal vs Manchester United