They are 3rd in the table, one point behind the leaders, but the way they’ve navigated a difficult start to the season means the bookmakers have them in pole position.
The Gunners’ prowess from set-pieces has been an integral part of their success, with the team scoring more goals from these situations than any other side since the start of last season. Mikel Arteta’s men have already netted four goals from dead-balls in this campaign and have shown no signs of slowing down.
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Arsenal Lead the Way For Set-Piece Goals
Arsenal have netted 25 goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) in the Premier League since the start of last season if we include the own-goal scored by Wilfred Ndidi in the Gunners’ 4-2 win over Leicester last month. Arteta’s side leads the division in set-piece goals during that period, sitting three ahead of Everton, who have scored 22.
The Gunners have had 15 shots as a direct result of deliveries from dead-balls this season, the fifth most in the top tier of English football. However, it’s the quality of their players in the air that has made them the most menacing.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are the primary corner takers, with Arteta opting for inswinging balls into the box. Rice has an expected assists of 1.23, the third most in the Arsenal squad, but it is Saka who has been the creative force.
The wide player takes the Gunners’ corners on the right-hand side, which has helped him rack up seven assists in the Premier League to this point. Saka’s expected assists total of 6.07 is the highest in the division, 1.23 higher than Cole Palmer’s.
Set-Pieces Provide Opportunities For Havertz and Gabriel
The Gunners have a number of aerial threats. Seven of their starting eleven from their last match were over 182cm tall, and they are proving to be a handful in the opposition box. However, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kai Havertz have been the standouts.
Gabriel Magalhaes scored Arsenal’s winning goal against Tottenham last month from a corner. The Brazilian has had six shots in his last two Premier League matches, five of which came directly from a corner. Across those two outings, he has an xG of 0.47. In the past year, Gabriel has been among the top 1% of centre-backs for non-penalty xG in Europe’s top five leagues.
Havertz is an imposing figure, standing at 193cm tall. He has had nine-headed attempts in his last three starts for Arsenal. The German accumulated an xG of 0.49 from headed shots in his team’s 3-1 win over Southampton before the international break.
Kai has been winning an average of 3.65 aerial duels per game in the last 12 months, which means he ranks in the 85th percentile when compared with all other forwards across Europe’s top five leagues.
The pair should have plenty of success against Bournemouth. The Cherries allowed Taylor Harwood-Bellis to score a headed goal from a set piece in their last home match. Andoni Iraola’s side rank third in the league for fouls, with an average of 14.19 per game, so Arsenal will also get the opportunity to deliver crosses from free-kicks.