Arsenal face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the 13:30 kick-off on Sunday, and we’re taking a look at some of the stat comparisons between the two teams ahead of the game.
We’ll start with a look at the two teams’ new star strikers in Álvaro Morata and Alexandre Lacazette. Both made strong starts with debut goals, but you can see an overview of the rest of their key stats below (via Oulala.com):
So far it seems that Morata has the edge overall, with an extra goal and a couple of assists. Lacazette completes more take-ons and has a higher conversion rate, but hasn’t been provided with nearly as many chances in the opening games, and has therefore still scored fewer.
Morata only just edges the key passes stat, but clearly his Chelsea teammates have been better at converting the chances the Spaniard has been creating. The pair will get a chance to show how they perform in the big games in the match up between the two sides.
Next we’ll have a look at the form of the two sides going into the game.
First, the overall form of each team (via Kickoff.com):
Clearly, Chelsea are ahead here, which shouldn’t be surprising given their higher position in the table this campaign and the fact they won the league in the last.
But perhaps it’s a little unexpected to see that as well as conceding fewer in the last 20 games (Arsenal’s defence is notoriously leaky so no great shock there), Chelsea have also scored far more, with 46 goals to Arsenal’s 34.
The Gunners can’t afford to be outplayed at both ends if they want a result at the Bridge.
Meanwhile, if you look at Chelsea’s home form vs Arsenal’s away form, the situation gets even worse. Arsenal have lost half of their recent games away from home, and Chelsea have scored three times as many goals as they’ve conceded in the comfort of their home stadium. A lot for Arsenal to overcome to get a win on Sunday, then.
Below are some further comparisons of the two sides from Kickoff.com in a number of different areas:
Overall, the statistics from past matches very much favour Chelsea, but most of us knew this already.
Arsenal need to transfer the good performances against the Blues at Wembley to the league now, and in particular to Stamford Bridge, where the last win came thanks to Robin van Persie hat-trick.
Hopefully, just like in the FA Cup final, the Gunners can overcome the odds to get a result.