Gabriel Magalhaes is one of Arsenal’s best chance-creators in the Premier League this season, which only flags how far behind his attacking teammates’ performances are.
Gabriel was Arsenal’s man of the match against Chelsea, as he put in a dominant defensive shift, as well as getting involved in the goals.
Liam Rosenior knows how good Arsenal are from set-pieces, but his side were still unable to stop the Gunners, mostly due to Gabriel’s presence.
William Saliba writes Arsenal into history – how many more times will this happen this season?
Set-piece Kings 👑
The Brazilian peeled away to outmuscle and outjump any Chelsea player to head the ball into William Saliba’s path, claiming his ninth goal contribution of the season.
Though Gabriel’s record-breaking form in front of goal is only positive for Arsenal, his brilliance only highlights the issues Mikel Arteta has with his actual attackers.
Gabriel Magalhaes is one of Arsenal’s best creators of chances in the Premier League this season
It might be unbelievable to learn this, but Gabriel is now in the top three for the most big chances created by Arsenal players in the Premier League this season.
What do these figures tell you about Arsenal’s attacking form this season?
The centre-back has created five big chances for his teammates to score, a tally that only Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka can better.
Captain and playmaker general Martin Odegaard is level with Gabriel, which is as impressive on the defender’s part as it is embarrassing for his attacking teammates.
When looking at the big chances created totals over the previous three Premier League seasons, it’s impossible to ignore how significant Odegaard’s underperformance in the metric is.
| Season | Big chances created | Rank in Arsenal squad |
| 2022/23 | 14 | 1st |
| 2023/24 | 17 | 1st |
| 2024/25 | 13 | 3rd |
| 2025/26 | 5 | =3rd |
Going from Arsenal’s best creator for consecutive seasons to being level with a centre-back for big chances created is a calamity for Odegaard that needs to be resolved.
Of course, the other way to look at things is that having Gabriel’s threat in the box is transformative, but it’s difficult to ignore his teammates’ frailties to celebrate the defender’s record.
Something has to change in the Arsenal squad, and Gabriel’s performance in chance creation metrics proves that, but when watching the Gunners going forward, you have to wonder how much change is possible before the end of the season.
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