Where better to end our Half-Term Report series than with the reigning champions: Arsenal.
Up until Gameweek 5, they were also the league leaders, but a surprise 3-0 loss at Brighton and Hove Albion last time out has maybe provided a minor reality check heading into the autumn.
In this piece, we look back on their season so far, both as a team collectively and individually.
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RESULTS SO FAR
GWResultArsenal’s xGArsenal’s xGC1Arsenal 3-0 Coventry1.880.202Aston Villa 0-1 Arsenal1.040.333Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea2.050.394Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal1.881.805Brighton 3-0 Arsenal1.631.31
There’s no reason to overreact to one bad result, of course, especially with the context above.
Brighton were superb against the Gunners but their opening two goals were speculative efforts from well outside the box, each carrying an xG of under 0.06. On another day, they fly into the East Stand or into David Raya‘s (£6.1m) gloves.
Arsenal, indeed, actually outperformed their opponents on the expected goals front.
That’s something they’ve done in every match this season, in fact
By the same token, we have to acknowledge the luck (or Raya’s heroics) in Gameweek 4, with Sunderland missing a penalty and running the Gunners very close on Wearside.
XG/XGC RANK V OTHER TEAMS
TotalRank v other clubsxG8.486thxGC4.041st
Even with the Brighton blip, and the Sunderland near-slip, Arsenal are in familiar territory: ranked 1st for lowest xGC.
Their xGC from open play (2.1) is also way superior to that of any other team.
Indeed, be it most clean sheets (three) or fewest shots on target conceded (13), few sides can better the Gunners in any defensive metric.
At the other end, not quite so elite – and that’s of course been the case for many years now. This is a side whose success is predicated on a mean backline.
The Gunners are actually a lowly 9th for non-penalty xG (7.69). Nine sides have carved out more big chances (12).
Strangely, given their past successes, they’ve not scored a single set-piece goal (excluding penalties) all season!
LINE-UP LESSONS
The calm before the storm?
Arteta has kept things fairly settled this season, with eight players ever-present starters (Christos Tzolis (£6.3m) will, of course, drop out of the XI for the first time this season now). Ben White (£5.5m) may have made it nine, had he not missed out in Gameweek 5.
Approaching, however, is the three-games-a-week period. The Champions League really ramps up now, and so might the rotation:
Above image from Legomane
Interestingly (and maybe encouragingly, if you own Arsenal assets), Arteta didn’t do too much resting of key players in the league between the September and November international breaks last season:
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m), for instance, tended to get the midweeks off and continued to start in the Premier League throughout.
Bukayo Saka‘s (£9.6m) only league benching came at the start of the run above, when he’d just returned from injury.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£8.0m) powered through, too, only getting nights off in the EFL Cup.
SET-PIECE TAKERS
CORNERSSaka (14), Rice (10), Dowman (1)FREE-KICK CROSSESRice (2)FREE-KICK SHOTSOdegaard (1), Eze (1)PENALTIESSaka (1)
Much the same as last season, with Saka and Declan Rice (£7.4m) hogging the crossing duties from set plays.
Rice, Arsenal’s leading taker of direct free-kicks in 2025/26 (with five), has yet to chance his arm in this campaign.
Saka benefitted from Viktor Gyokeres‘ (£7.1m) peripheral role this term by slotting in a Gameweek 4 penalty. The two job-shared last season.
Gyokeres may well be starting in Gameweek 6, however, with Kai Havertz (£7.6m) an injury doubt.
TOP PLAYERS FOR DEFCONS
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