Arsenal: The remarkable stats of a remarkable front three

Arsenal are built on the front three of Alexis Sanchez, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil. And here are the remarkable stats of the remarkable front three.

As soon as the transfer deadline passed and Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were still in North London, it was abundantly clear where the strength of this team would lie. Joining with club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal’s successes, if they were to have any, would be founded on a fluid and frightening front three. And, thus far, they have lived up their billing.

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After a somewhat bumpy start in which there was a not a minute of football where all three took to the pitch at the same time until October 22nd, a 5-2 win at Everton, no less, the trio have come together to forge one of the most prolific, creative and ruthless attacking forces in the country.

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Wednesday night’s 5-0 dismantling of Huddersfield Town was the fourth game that all three have started to together this season. In those four games, Lacazette, Ozil and Sanchez have combined for seven goals and seven assists, including three goals and two assists on Wednesday. In those four games, Arsenal have averaged 3.5 goals per game; in the 10 games that one or more of the trio has not started, that figure falls to just 1.4 goals per game. They are infectious.

And it is not just team success in the games that they are starting in. Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette are all enjoying individual success this year, also, featuring heavily in attacking statistics when compared with the rest of the league, even to Manchester City, who are on pace to score more goals than any side in the history of the Premier League.

Ozil, for example, is averaging 3.66 key passes per 90 minutes. That is more than any other player in the league, including those benefitting from extremely small sample sizes that often skew such figures. And even more so, taking players that have played in 750 or more minutes this season, not only is Ozil is first, but Alexis is third, with 2.94 key passes per 90 minutes. Cesc Fabregas is the only player to rival their creative dominance.

Similarly, taking just players who have played more than 750 minutes of football this season, Lacazette has the eighth best goal-per-90-minute ratio, at 0.67 goals per 90 minutes. Moreover, Lacazette averages 0.86 key passes per game, which is not a bad figure for a pure goal-scoring centre-forward, while Alexis has scored 0.45 goals per 90 minutes, a figure that is badly deflated by a poor start to the season.

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Arsenal are blessed with a remarkable front three. Their remarkable stats prove that much. They are the basis of this team, the foundation of the success. Let’s celebrate them while they’re here, and hope that injuries and departures do not scupper their seasons. They are simply wonderful to watch.