Have Arsenal been too patient in attack this season?

Mikel Arteta has built one of the Premier League’s, and Europe’s, best attacks over the past couple of years, but this season has seen his Arsenal side’s goalscoring numbers take a dip.

Arsenal scored the second most amount of goals in the league last season and the season prior with 91 and 88 respectively, behind only champions Manchester City.

But this season, the Gunners have managed just 18 goals in their first 11 games, enough to rank them only seventh in the division.

There are, of course, some mitigating factors behind this. Arsenal have had three red cards this season, all in different games. They have also had some tough away games too, playing Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea so far, and have missed arguably their most creative player in midfielder Martin Odegaard.

But is there still cause for concern over Arsenal’s attack?

According to the Premier League’s own stats, the Gunners have created the third most amount of ‘big chances’ in the league this season with 31 but have also missed the third most big chances with 24.

However, their expected goals figure is low in comparison, just the ninth highest in the league with 16.5 largely due to the fact that they do not take a lot of shots, the 11th most in the league this season with 152, to be exact. Manchester City, by contrast, have taken 212. Last year, Arsenal took the third most shots in the league with 657 across the season.

To summarise, Arsenal are very patient with their build up, seeking to carve out the maximum goalscoring opportunity possible. They are creating good chances, but not a lot of chances.

Adding another quality attacking player might help in taking more of the good chances they do create – Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak being some obvious targets that could provide a welcome boost to Arsenal’s attack.

But there is an argument that the Gunners also need to become less predictable in the final third, and try to catch teams out by attempting more of the higher risk, higher reward passes and shots in the final third. An early cross, or ball over the top from a deeper position, for example. They certainly have the quality of players that can pull them off.

The return of Odegaard from injury will be a significant boost and better finishing is of course the most obvious and quick fix to their lack of goals. But is it time for Arteta to alter his side’s approach slightly too?