Arsenal fans have no reason to be worried about recent performances – they’ve actually been good

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Arsenal bowed out of the FA Cup in disappointing fashion against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, defeated on penalties after playing against ten men for an hour.

Mikel Arteta’s side have received widespread criticism for their performance, which was hampered by wasteful finishing in front of goal.

Kai Havertz has been blamed for his role in this, with the German missing two golden opportunities to give the Gunners the lead in normal time.

This lack of proficiency in the final third has prompted fans to call on the Emirates hierarchy to sign a forward this month, with many catastrophising the defeats to Newcastle and United this week.

While additional firepower would certainly help Arteta’s squad, the underlying statistics indicate that the performance levels in these matches aren’t overly concerning.

Arsenal were unfortunate against Man Utd and Newcastle

Arsenal broke an unwanted record against United, suffering back-to-back third-round FA Cup exits for the first time since 1995/96.

Arteta will be frustrated by his team’s inability to progress in English football’s oldest competition, but he won’t be pulling his hair out about the manner of the performance.

While at times the pace of the Gunners’ passing wasn’t quick enough, and they lacked fluidity in forward areas in certain aspects, they created more than enough to see off both the Red Devils and the Magpies in the EFL Cup.

Arsenal took 49 shots across the two encounters, accumulating 6.44 expected goals, ten big chances and 23 corners.

In comparison, Newcastle and United managed 14 shots, 1.49 expected goals, four big chances and just three corners combined.

Yet, the visitors to the Emirates managed to score three goals to Arsenal’s one.

This suggests that there is little wrong with Arsenal’s process and system. Arteta’s game model has been good enough to elicit the quality and quantity of chances that would ordinarily win you games, but the players haven’t executed in the final third.

If the likes of Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice had taken the glaring chances presented to them, the narrative around these two matches would be very different.

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Should Mikel Arteta be worried about Arsenal’s finishing?

Of course, finishing is a part of football, and if chances aren’t taken, then you don’t deserve to win a game.

Managing just ten shots on target from 49 total efforts, and scoring just one goal from 6.44 expected goals could be a cause for concern for Arteta.

The Gunners clearly lack a ruthless finisher in the box, which should be addressed in the transfer window.

Alexander Isak has been linked with Arsenal, and there’s no doubt that the Swede would alleviate some of these finishing issues.

However, finishing slumps happen in football, and the data from the Premier League this season indicates that Arsenal aren’t falling short in this aspect generally.

According to FBRef, Arteta’s side are the fourth highest over-performing team based on the expected goals that they’ve created in England’s top flight.

While games against United and Newcastle in the cup competitions point to an inability to convert chances into goals, other matches have seen the reverse happen.

In games against West Ham and Crystal Palace for example, Arsenal scored a combined ten goals from just 6.47 expected.

Finishing evidently varies from game-to-game, and it would certainly be more concerning if chances weren’t being created.