Arsenal vs Burnley: Another case made for Granit Xhaka

Arsenal put on a rousing display against Burnley, but there was one area where they were clearly outdone by their hosts, and it made the case for Granit Xhaka… again.

Don’t worry, I’m not here to talk about control, or winning the battle of the midfield, or anything that I normally preach in defense of Granit Xhaka and his prolonged stay at Arsenal. No, today I’m preaching about something else.

I want to talk about set-pieces.

If there was one thing that Burnley excelled in that we utterly failed at, it was creating chances from corners and free kicks. The hosts were brilliant at it. Every single time they had one, they absolutely maximized it. It was a nervy ordeal each time they stood over the ball.

On the opposite end, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was in charge of set pieces and it was an atrocity. Rarely did he clear the first man and needless to say it never amounted to anything.

If you’ve never missed Granit Xhaka before, you might have missed him here, if not for the sole purpose of making set pieces looking even remotely potent. He has been on set piece duty all year and maybe it’s just another way that he gets taken for granted.

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Let me hit you with some numbers.

Granit Xhaka has created 26 chances this year across the Premier League and the Europa League. 19 have come from set pieces. That is a nice, healthy chunk of creation coming from his ability to deliver workable balls from set pieces.

He’s also had five total assists this year, and four of them came from corners.

It’s a weapon. It leaves Xhaka tied for third in the Premier League in assists created from corners, tied with the likes of Eden Hazard. And keep in mind that Xhaka isn’t exactly firing it to the head of Higuain or Giroud. He’s firing at much shorter targets.

In terms of creating chances, Xhaka sits a modest 22nd in efficiency of creating chances from corners in the Premier League.

In a world where the Gunners struggle to create consistent chances, being able to rely on Xhaka to deliver workable corners is a huge boost that has come to be just a part of this team. Don’t overlook it.

Only Mesut Ozil has shown any proficiency to create from corners, and he isn’t as efficient as Xhaka either. Just another reason to make him captain.