Arsenal's Creative Drought: A Potential Title-Deciding Factor

Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column where Adam Bate analyzes key Premier League stories using data and opinion. This week, he examines Arsenal's concerning performance against Bournemouth, which highlighted their struggle to create scoring opportunities from open play. The Gunners' reliance on set pieces has been a theme throughout the campaign, but their inability to create from open play could ultimately cost them the title. With an expected goals total of just 0.18 from open play, Arsenal's performance was alarming. The focus on set plays has been effective, but it came at the cost of momentum and fluency in the game. The team spent a significant amount of time on set pieces, with 26 minutes and 48 seconds spent with the ball dead. This tactic has been successful, but it made for a disjointed game, and this is not an isolated incident. Arsenal often fail to create from open play, with six matches this season having an open-play expected goals total of 0.3 or lower. This is unusual for a Premier League leader, as the eventual winners typically rank high in open-play creativity. Arsenal's lack of fluency could be a problem, especially if Manchester City goes on a run. Meanwhile, West Ham's Jarrod Bowen played a crucial role in their 4-0 win over Wolves, with two assists and a continued output of goal involvements. Since signing for West Ham in 2020, Bowen has been among the top players in the Premier League for goal involvements. His consistency is underlined by the fact that only two other players have registered more than 10 goal involvements in each of the past six seasons. If Bowen can finish the season strongly, he could join an exclusive club and help keep his team in the competition. Elsewhere, Sunderland's Brian Brobbey impressed in their 1-0 win over Tottenham, with his ability to hold up the ball and retain possession. Brobbey has held the ball up 48 times this season, with a high success rate, making him a valuable asset to his team.