Arsenal are in a remarkable position as we head into the final weeks of the season.
The Gunners are genuinely still in the hunt for a quadruple heading into mid-March, and there’s genuine reason to believe Arsenal could win it all.
However, Paul Merson has a worry about Arsenal, particularly in an attacking sense at the moment.
The goals haven’t been flowing for the Gunners as of late, and Merson is worried that this conservative style of play is going to cost Arsenal as we head into the business end of the campaign.
Answer honestly, are you worried about Arsenal’s mentality in the title race?
Is it a Mikel Arteta problem?
Paul Merson’s Arsenal worry
Merson shared his verdict on Arsenal when writing for SportsKeeda.
The pundit noted that Arsenal haven’t been great in recent weeks, explaining how lucky Mikel Arteta’s side were in the Champions League this week.
Merson highlighted a lack of goals as a problem, and, to be fair, that is a growing issue.
“Arsenal haven’t been great in recent weeks. My god, they were lucky to get that draw against Bayer Leverkusen. They don’t play free-flowing football,” Merson wrote.
“Take Chelsea for instance, even though they lost to PSG, they had a real go and showed some firepower. But you won’t see that with Arsenal. It’s impossible to think they would score two or three goals in a game.
“I expect Arsenal to be far too good for Leverkusen at the Emirates. But at the moment, I’m still a bit worried about them. If that was a league game they drew, they would be in trouble.”
Arsenal’s attacking numbers analysed
Merson says Arsenal aren’t dangerous enough in an attacking sense, and he’s not wrong.
Arsenal have scored 59 goals in 30 league games so far this season – averaging 1.96 per game.
Extrapolate that over a 38 game season and you’re looking at around 75 goals for the campaign.
That is much lower than the average goals per game for a Premier League champion which stands at 84.5.
| Premier League winners’ stats | |
|---|---|
| Total Goals by Champions | 2,788 |
| Average Goals per Season | 84.5 |
| Average Goals per Game | 2.22 |
| Lowest-Scoring Champion | 67 goals – Manchester United 1992–93 |
| Highest-Scoring Champion | 106 goals – Manchester City 2017–18 |
| Typical Range for Champions | 75–95 goals per season |
| Recent Trend (2017+) | Champions often score 90+ goals |
That said, it has been done before – Manchester United won the league in 1992/93 while scoring just 67 goals, so there is precedent to suggest that low-scoring teams can still win the league.
More firepower would be nice for Arsenal, but they could still win the league at their current rate.
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