Arsenal's Limited Open-Play Creativity: A Potential Title Decider?

Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column that combines data and opinion to reflect on key Premier League stories. This week, we examine Arsenal's alarming performance against Bournemouth, which exposed their lack of creativity from open play. Despite their mastery of set-pieces, the Gunners' inability to create scoring opportunities from open play is a concern. With an expected goals total of just 0.18, Arsenal's performance was underwhelming, and their reliance on set-pieces may ultimately damage their momentum. The team spent 26 minutes and 48 seconds with the ball dead, including six minutes preparing for corners and seven minutes waiting for throw-ins. This formula has taken Arsenal to the top of the Premier League table, but it has also led to a bitty game, with the team often failing to create from open play. In fact, they 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 lack of creativity may explain why fluency is a problem for the team. Meanwhile, West Ham's 4-0 win over Wolves moved them out of the relegation zone, thanks in part to Jarrod Bowen's two assists. Bowen has been consistent in his output, ranking among the top half a dozen players in the Premier League for goal involvements since signing for West Ham in January 2020. His reliability and robustness make him a talisman for the team. Sunderland's Brian Brobbey also impressed, holding the ball up 48 times this season, with a higher success rate at retaining possession than anyone else near the top of that list. His ability to isolate defenders and create problems for teams is a valuable asset for Sunderland.