Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side sit sixth in the Premier League table
Football data analysis comparing Arsenal this season with an average for the current top four shows the Gunners only beat the Champions League sides on five occasions; passing success (83% vs 82.5%), yellow cards received (47 vs 53.5), tackles (18.2 vs 17.6), tackles lost (348 vs 363.75) and net spend in the summer and January transfer windows (£85.83m v £58.52), with the net spend average only reduced significantly by the fee Chelsea received for Oscar in January.
What's worse, they fail to beat ANY of the top four teams on a single metric when the best score is taken into account.
Some of the most glaring shortfalls come in the shape of percentage of games won, with Arsenal on 53.57%, almost 10% behind the average and way behind Chelsea's 76% strike rate. Data analysists bonuscodebets.co.uk worked out the Gunners have also lost a quarter of their games compared to Spurs (on just 10%) and a top four mean of 14.5%.
Leaky Defence
Arsenal have conceded 1.29 goals a game compared to the top four average which is under a goal, with Spurs again the most miserly at 0.72 per match. The shot-shy Gunners are averaging an attempt per game less than the average, with almost two less than Liverpool. In terms of those which are on target, they again manage under one per match on average compared to their neighbours and Liverpool.
London rivals Chelsea and Spurs are miles clear of Wenger's side when it comes to clean sheets, with 13 each compared to just eight for Arsenal and a top four average of 10.25.
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Arsenal average two yellow cards per game this season
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Yellow cards
Discipline is another area to have cost the Gunners, receiving two red cards compared to an average of one. They have also been offside on 71 occasions, higher than the average of 65 and miles clear of Chelsea, flagged just 55 times. They have also allowed opponents to shoot almost 11 times, significantly higher than the 8.45 shots afforded on average by the top four.
A look at the Gunners' top four odds over the course of the term also reveals that their poor run of form has seen the chance of them finishing in the Champions League places slip from a high of almost 80%, to the current all season low of 20%, or 4/1 with Ladbrokes.
Arsenal Net Spend
Finally, one metric where the side does appear to be competing at least is net spend, with the summer and January windows yielding an outlay of £85.83 million, compared to a top four average of £58.52. Manchester City are miles ahead however, spending a reported £189m across the two windows.