3 – Sunderland took just three shots in this match, two from outside the 18 yard box and from the penalty spot. When they took the penalty, many Gooners voiced concern on Twitter that Arsenal would let another one slip but Sunderland were the most toothless team Arsenal have faced all season and once Wenger brought on Giroud, there was little cause for worry.

16 – I didn’t say “no” cause for worry, however. Wenger’s boys have conceded 16 big chances in League play this season. Big Chances are counted by Opta and are a measure of a shot which should be scored. For example, a penalty is a Big Chance and the Alexis goal at the end was a Big Chance. Also, when a player is played through 1-v-1 with the keeper, they usually count that as a Big Chance. Clear?

Ok, well, to give some context: Arsenal conceded just 35 big chances all season last year. That’s less than one per game. This season they are averaging 1.6 per game.

Now, that stat is skewed by the fact that Arsenal conceded 7 big chances in the two matches against Swansea and Boro. Last season Arsenal only had two matches where they conceded 3 or more, Swansea and Sunderland, and so there’s a chance that those two matches this season will even out in the end.

I don’t think it’s time to panic on this stat quite yet: if I look at overall shots allowed per game, they are down from 12 to 10 and shots in prime* are only up slightly from 2.6 to 3.1. The 2 penalties Arsenal have conceded so far this season increased the opposition Big Chances per game by 0.2 all by itself. So, it looks like Arsenal are structurally playing well (shots allowed per game down) but errors and penalties conceded are causing a slight burp in the stats.

23 – Number of points Arsenal have won this season and coincidentally the number of goals Arsenal have scored.

18 – Number of Clean Sheets Arsenal kept last season. This led the Premier League and won Petr Cech the Golden Gloves with 16 to his name.

4 – Number of clear sheets Arsenal have kept so far this season.

6 – There have been 6 penalties awarded in Arsenal’s 10 matches this season (4 for Arsenal and 2 against) and while that seems unusual you have to remember that before this weekend, the League was on pace to hand out 131 penalties over the season. That is 25 more penalties awarded than in any season of the Premier League! Liverpool matches have generated 5 penalties (4 for and 1 against) and Man City have 6 (5 for and 1 against).

1 – Giroud scored with his first touch of the game and it was the second time in his Arsenal career that he scored a goal on the match he returned from injury. The last time was in Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Man U in 2014. That was also Giroud’s first headed goal of the season. And Alexis’ first headed goal of the season. Giroud only had 11 touches in this match, 12 if you count the time he touched my heart and made me feel funny inside, and yet scored 2 goals.

1 – That corner for Giroud’s goal was Özil’s first assist of the Premier League season. He also has an assist in the Champions League but he is way off his mark from last season where he assisted 19 times. In fact, Ozil scored or assisted 25 goals last season (Premier League) and I wonder, would you rather have Özil score 19 goals or assist 19 goals? Assists are much less common. People almost never break 20 assists in a season but there are almost always players who score 20+ goals. But other than rarity, is there any reason why it would matter if he scored more directly or indirectly?

1 – That was also Gibbs’ first assist of the season and the perfect way to cap off a stunning match. He was 3rd on the team with 50/60 passes, second in final third passing with 18/21 passes (Iwobi was 19/21), he led the team (along with Özil) with 3 key passes, he won 2/4 dribbles (second on the team), was second in tackles with 2/4, had 2 interceptions, was second on the team in clearances with 7, tied for first (with Koz) with 5/5 headed clearances, and won 5/9 aerial duels to lead Arsenal.

@7amkickoff

Sources: WhoScored.com, Transfermarkt.com (for the Giroud injury thing), and my personal database

Qq

*My own measure of shots in and around the 6 yard box