The number of touches Arsenal had in the penalty box compared to Tottenham absolutely stunned Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt during the North London Derby.
North London is red after Arsenal recorded their biggest Premier League away win against Tottenham on matchday 27.
From the opening stages of the North London Derby, it was clear that Arsenal’s attack had real intent.
There were fewer horseshoe-shaped sequences and more penalty box actions, which is what Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt commented on when reacting to the game.
How much did Arsenal’s win vs Tottenham make you believe that we can win the Premier League?
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt agree that Arsenal’s penalty box dominance against Tottenham was incredible
During Sky Sports’ coverage of the contest, a statistic emerged to reveal that in the first half, Arsenal had considerably more touches in the penalty box than Tottenham.
“I think there was a stat for about 40 minutes yesterday that Tottenham had touched the ball once in their penalty box. Arsenal had like 24 touches. Did you see that?” Scholes asked on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
Immediately, Butt replied, “It’s bonkers, isn’t it?”
Scholes went on to issue high praise to Arsenal’s forwards for delivering at that level, “It’s incredible, and you’re away from home as well. It’s incredible.”
Arsenal’s attack against Tottenham was a contrast of Brentford and Wolves displays
The handbrake was certainly off against Tottenham, as seen by the six big chances Arsenal conjured up, along with their 20 shots on goal.
Agree or disagree: Arsenal’s best attacking performance of the Premier League season was against Spurs
As a fan watching on, it’s impossible to deny that Arsenal have failed to wow going forward, but this changed against Spurs, which had everything to do with not facing a low block.
Still, the signs of delivering what has been needed for so long were there.
Arsenal’s six big chances and 20 shots against Spurs were a huge improvement on what we’d seen in the two matches prior, against Brentford and Wolves.
The Gunners recorded 4 big chances and 17 shots in those two games combined, which signals the positive change in the derby.
Arsenal answered their critics in the best way possible, but the necessary next step is to replicate it again and again and again.
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