Arsenal's Creative Drought: Will it Prove Costly in the Title Race?

Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column where Adam Bate combines data and opinion to analyze key stories from the latest Premier League matches. This week, Arsenal's concerning performance against Bournemouth is under scrutiny. Despite Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth playing some good football, Mikel Arteta's team struggled to create chances from open play, with an expected goals total of just 0.18. The Gunners' reliance on set-pieces has been a theme this season, but it may be damaging their momentum. With 26 minutes and 48 seconds spent on dead-ball situations, Arsenal's possession was often interrupted. The team's formula has taken them to the top of the Premier League table, but it has led to a bitty game, with too many matches featuring low open-play expected goals totals. In fact, Arsenal have had more matches with an open-play expected goals total of 0.3 or lower than Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea combined. This could explain why fluency is a problem for the team. Meanwhile, Jarrod Bowen played a crucial role in West Ham's 4-0 win over Wolves, with two assists and a consistent output throughout the season. Bowen's reliability and robustness make him a talisman for the team, and he is on track to join an exclusive club of players with 20 goal involvements in each of the last three Premier League seasons. Elsewhere, Brian Brobbey impressed in Sunderland's 1-0 win over Tottenham, with his ability to hold up the ball and retain possession a valuable asset for the team.