When one side are enjoying more than half of possession, it is common to hear that they are "winning the possession battle" – but often this "battle" does not exist. This attitude assumes that the match is being contested between two sides who are actively looking to keep the ball. Frequently, one side are entirely happy to see less of the ball.

A table of average possession in the Premier League shows a huge gap between seven sides (Arsenal, Swansea City, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool) who all average 55-59% of possession during a game, and the other 13 sides. No other team average more than 50%, and many do not attempt to. When comparing the possession table with the league table, the two greatest anomalies are Swansea (second in possession terms, 14th in the table) and Newcastle United (11th in possession terms, fifth in the table). Their match at the Liberty Stadium was a fascinating clash of contrasting approaches, with Swansea recording an amazing 77% of the ball, but losing 2-0.

In a game like that, there is simply no possession battle. The away side had no intention to dominate the ball – their strategy was to sit very deep, prevent Swansea passing in the final third, and play directly towards Papiss Cissé up front, and Demba Ba in an advanced left-wing position. In theory, the player least happy with this approach would be Yohan Cabaye, a self-confessed stats obsessive who aims to touch the ball 100 times per game. Against Swansea, when he was substituted 16 minutes from full-time, he had touched the ball only 31 times – but two of these were assists, with excellent passes to Cissé. Cabaye's personal target was not compatible with Alan Pardew's approach on Friday, but he played as effectively as he has all season.

In stark contrast with the game at Swansea, Arsenal's meeting with Manchester City on Sunday involved two teams who are both accustomed to dominating. Among the 380 games in this season's Premier League, this was unique – Arsenal average more possession than any side at home, while City average the most on their travels. Therefore, this game was all about the midfield battleground. This influenced both managers' selections at the start of the game – Arsène Wenger used Yossi Benayoun on the left, rather than a more direct player such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Benayoun had a fairly quiet game, but contributed by drifting into the centre to help his midfield colleagues, often turning Arsenal's midfield into a diamond.

That extra body proved crucial because Roberto Mancini surprisingly used three central midfielders. With James Milner, Samir Nasri, Sergio Aguëro and Mario Balotelli in his side, the Italian could have favoured the rough 4-4-2 that he has used in the majority of big Premier League games this season, most obviously in the 6-1 win at Old Trafford, with Aguëro floating behind Balotelli, and (with David Silva injured on Sunday) Nasri and Milner on the flanks. But Mancini was afraid of being outnumbered in the middle, so used Nasri at the top of a midfield triangle, Milner on the right and Balotelli high up on the left. Aguëro was the only forward.

Despite the attempt to compete in the centre, City never got into their passing rhythm, and were not helped by fielding three separate combinations of central midfielders within the first hour. Yaya Touré's early injury forced David Pizarro's introduction, and Mancini then made a second decision, again with ball retention in mind. Rather than Pizarro playing in Touré's deep position (roughly where he excelled at Roma), Mancini brought Milner inside alongside Barry, and Pizarro went into the advanced position Nasri had started in, with the Frenchman moving right. Pizarro naturally interpreted the role in a very different manner to Nasri, dropping deep to pick up the ball. He brought some brief stability to City towards the end of the first half, and hit a couple of good balls over the top of the defence.

But at half-time, Mancini changed things yet again, as Pizarro switched from being the attacking playmaker to playing behind Barry and Milner. The increasing use of the "quarterback" term, borrowed from American football, was particularly appropriate here – Barry and Milner were effectively the offensive line, used as blockers to push back Arsenal's midfield and create space for Pizarro to dictate play. But the constant switching of tactics made City's players uncomfortable, and the decision to base the attacking play around a newcomer who has started only one Premier League game summed up Mancini's desperation.

It is not clear whether Pizarro's role was intended as something approaching the Xavi Hernández style, keeping things neat and tidy to retain the ball, or the role Xabi Alonso plays in El Clásico – where Real Madrid have given up hope of dominating the ball, so instead use their passing midfielder to hit long diagonals into the corners. In one sense it is irrelevant, but it reflects whether Mancini was still trying to make this a possession battle, or whether he had given up and was trying to play on the break.

The nature of the goal – Pizarro being dispossessed by Mikel Arteta, who promptly thumped the ball past Joe Hart – was a symbolic way for the game to be settled. Arteta had completed more passes than any other player and was the main reason Arsenal enjoyed 65% of possession. It was right that the game was decided by the players concerned with keeping the ball – unlike at Swansea, the possession battle was actually a contest to be won and lost.

The key to stopping Jelavic?

Everton finally signed a prolific striker – then scored four goals for the first time this season when he was not even in the matchday squad. But Everton's 4-0 win over Sunderland should not detract from Nikica Jelavic's fine start, and he fits into Everton's style of play well.

His five goals since his winter move from Rangers have been scored in a similar fashion. They all involved him making a dart towards the near post zone, then meeting a cut-back or cross and steering it into the far corner. Defenders (and opposition scouts) should now be aware of his movement and alert to the danger, and it will be interesting to see if Jelavic continues to be prolific once this has been worked out.

April's goal drought

At the start of the season there was a lot of focus on the high goals per game ratio in the Premier League – it was 2.98 when Kevin McCarra remarked on the subject at the end of October. The ratio has fallen to 2.79, which is still relatively high, but slightly lower than last season's 2.80.

It is common for the ratio to fall midway through the season, as Sarah Rudd has illustrated. April is traditionally a dry month for goals, meaning the ratio could fall further by the end of the season. Rudd's final graph is particularly interesting, showing that although the ratio from autumn was high compared with previous whole seasons, it was not remotely unusual when compared with equivalent periods from the past six years.