Interesting early stat suggests something has changed tactically about Arsenal
An early statistical trend has emerged regarding Arsenal.
The Premier League champions have gotten off to the perfect start, winning their opening two games without conceding a goal.
Arsenal have continued their strong defensive showings but a lot was made last season of the way they attack.
Now that the pressure of winning the title has been lifted off of them, some fans were hoping for a bit more free-flowing football.
Looking at some of the early data from the opening two rounds of games, there is a number worth flagging.
Arsenal lead the Premier League for offsides
According to data provided by WhoScored, Arsenal have been caught offside on average 6.5 times per game so far this season.
That’s more than double the rate of any other team in the Premier League. Last season, Arsenal were 7th in the league for that same metric.
Of course, this is an extremely small sample size, so no concrete observations should be taken from it, but it could suggest something has changed tactically.
However, when digging a bit deeper, eight of those offsides came against Aston Villa. Unai Emery is known for expertly setting his defensive line to catch opponents in an offside trap.
And it’s worth noting that the second ranked team for offsides is Brighton, who of course also played Villa.
The Seagulls had six offsides against Emery’s side, suggesting that maybe it’s more specific to how Villa set up than anything else.
Saying that, Arsenal also had five against Coventry, so it could be a bit of both.
Martin Odegaard could be a reason for Arsenal’s offside tally
For the sake of argument, let’s assume it’s Arsenal-related. The most plausible explanation for such a shift might well be Martin Odegaard.
The Arsenal captain has come into this season looking like a completely different player, especially against Coventry and in the Community Shield against Manchester City.
Is he maybe feeling a bit more liberated this season? More confident, attempting things he wasn’t last time out?
When he’s firing, Odegaard is one of the most wonderful players to watch — not just in the Premier League but in Europe.
If he’s attempting more through balls, that’s theoretically going to lead to more offsides. That’s not necessarily a problem. It could even be a sign of attacking intent.
Like we said, it’s too early to be making such conclusions. We’ll know a lot more a couple of months into this season. But it’s an interesting number, and one worth watching.
