The numbers prove that Mikel Arteta is wrong about Bukayo Saka

Arsenal are preparing for a Champions League clash against Ligue 1 side Lille on Tuesday night after they beat Leeds United 2-1 in the Premier League over the weekend. Despite going 1-0 down, the Gunners rallied, and thanks to goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Bruno Guimaraes, Mikel Arteta's side came away with three points.

If they manage to beat Lille at the Emirates on Tuesday, they'll be two from two in the Champions League, as they beat Italian side Napoli 1-0 before the international break, thanks to a goal from captain Martin Odegaard.

Bukayo Saka will be in the spotlight, as he's clearly the Gunners' most dangerous asset and has an impressive record in Europe, scoring 13 goals and providing eight assists in 30 total appearances in the competition.

Mikel Arteta criticised Saka for his lack of shots

Ahead of the Lille game, Arsenal boss Arteta criticised Saka, saying he wanted him to take more shots and take more chances in front of goal to improve the England star's goal output. So far this season, Saka has scored three goals in six Premier League games.

Arteta told The Athletic: "If he misses the chance, so be it. At the end, the more volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals. He is doing well. He could have had another four or five goals by now, easily. But if he continues like that, we know (they’ll come).

"When he talks about scoring a certain amount of goals, he needs to be thinking about scoring a certain amount of goals per game. If that shifts, that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals."

Arteta is wrong about Saka's output

The Arsenal boss is effectively saying that he needs to take more shots and score more goals, but Saka has been one of the most dangerous attackers in the Premier League this season.

Saka has taken 17 shots in six league games, which is ninth in the Premier League, just five fewer than Man City's Erling Haaland. Furthermore, his shots are quality efforts too, as, according to WhoScored, Saka's xG per 90 minutes is 0.72, which is sixth in the league.

The numbers suggest that Saka is already doing everything that Arteta wants in terms of getting into the right positions and taking shots on goal. It may just be that the goals aren't coming as much as he would want yet, but considering Saka is doing all the right things, it's only a matter of time before he begins to boost his goal tally.

Add us as a preferred source on Google