Sunderland v Arsenal: the problems the Arsenal team cause the opposition as players are moved around
As I think we saw yesterday, victories over Sunderland are moderately common for Arsenal so the combination of past results and recent form all point in our favour. Which of course can also be a warning sign if anyone starts thinking it is all done and dusted before we even kick off. But I am sure Arteta won’t let that happen.
The highlight was the 5-1 win oin 21 December 2021 in which Eddie Nketiah got a hattrick, with Pepe and Patino getting the others. That game was in the league cup although an honourable mention must also go to the away game on 29 October 2016 which Arsenal won 1-4 away, with Alexis Sánchez and Olivier Giroud knocking in a couple each..
But we should not take it as all done and dusted since Sunderland can beat Arsenal, as they did in the FA Cup in the 2011/12 season with a 2-0 victory in front of just 26,000 spectators.
But a victory today for Arsenal is particularly important as the next couple of games for Arsenal look particularly winnable (Ipswich in the EFL Cup third round on 15 September and Brighton on 19 September) and it is always important to keep sets of good results like the one Arsenal are on, running for as long as possible.
Fortunately for us Arteta does not look like a manager who can slip into a mood of contentment and expect results to happen, and he does seem intent on constantly making changes to the side and to the tactics. This of course makes it hard for clubs like Sunderland (who are just focussed on trying to get their own form right), to work out exactly what is going on with the opposition.
In short they could well prepare to be up against a regular Arsenal format only to find one hour before the game that there are different players in a number of different positions. The changes to the squad made this summer makes this easier for the manager of course, and harder for the opposition – especially when they are trying to work out their own best approach, only to find that they are not up against the team they expected.
Indeed this is one of the arguments I have most summers with the websites and blogs that come forth with their rather obvious requirements for Arsenal to buy a new centre forward or whatever. Yet although I do argue with them, they do Arsenal a great service since I am sure a lot of coaches do take notice of the chit chat on the internet, and they think “Ah, Arsenal must have a centre forward problem” when of course we don’t since goal pour in from all over the squad and all over the pitch..
Mind you, Arsenal have only scored six goals this season, but they have been scored by three different players (Havertz, Saka and Odegaard) who have got two each – and although three seems a small number, that is more than the normal number that a defence has to mark when it comes to goalscorers. So I personally continue think that having a multiplicity of goal scorers is much better than having one prime goalscorer, because it makes it so much harder for the opposition to defence to know who is going to pop up next. And of course it gives us cover for when the injuries come.
Obviously I know that through the summer there were endless cries for Arsenal to buy a new goal scorer, but these all seemed to ignore the fact that Arsenal was the second highest scoring team in the league last season. But then I suppose newspaper chitchat has never been very good when it comes to logic and reason.
I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see any of the regular players (other than perhaps the goal keeper) pop up and score in this evening’s game. And that of course makes marking so much more difficult for the opposition.
Adding all the matches together through history the total score is 25 goals to Sunderland and 72 to Arsenal in these matches, so the augers look good. Looking at the charts I don’t think we have ever scored more than five against Sunderland in a match, so maybe this a good moment to break that record. Or perhaps I am indeed getting carried away…