Arsenal confirms the title

Last season, Arsenal were far ahead of any other team in the Premier League in terms of headers. They were the best at exploiting set-pieces in general, and were particularly dangerous from corners. This was mentioned ad nauseam ahead of the north London derby with Tottenham, with the Spurs side reporting a stark contrast: they were weak at defending against set-pieces. The result: Gabriel Magalhaes headed in from a corner to score the only goal of the game in Arsenal's victory.

Arsenal (right) are the best headed scoring team in the Premier League

Shortly after, Gabriel headed home again, also from a corner kick, to give Arsenal a 2-1 lead at the home of defending champions Manchester City. That could have been the decisive goal, and in the future, it could have been the decisive goal for the entire season. Manchester City drew 2-2 in dramatic fashion in the final minute of injury time, snatching the top spot from their closest rivals in terms of class on the English pitch at the moment. But Arsenal are "champions" in the ability to score goals with their heads, so that's for sure!

Since the beginning of last season, Arsenal have scored 24 goals from set pieces, not counting penalties (mostly headers from corner kicks). This figure is equivalent to 50% of the total goals scored by many teams in the entire season! Liverpool or Manchester City are only 2/3 of Arsenal in the above figures. Many players have scored headers for Arsenal in the Premier League, just since the beginning of last season: Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Jesus, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Leandro Trossard, William Saba, Kai Havertz. This shows that Arsenal's attack is extremely dangerous in set pieces, thanks to their unique style of play rather than having strikers who are good at playing with their heads. Opponents, although well aware of Arsenal's strengths, find it difficult to defend against them. On the other hand, although Arsenal are extremely good at scoring from high balls, their style of play does not rely on high balls.

IT'S AN ART

Evidence that Arsenal do not overuse the ball in the air: Tottenham crossed the ball (including corners) three times as often as Arsenal in the north London derby, but they were all largely meaningless, while Arsenal scored their only goal from a corner.

The Premier League's professional statistics department concluded that one of the important professional characteristics of last season was the increase in the number of headed goals (203 in the whole season). This is the second time in two decades that the number of headed goals in the Premier League in a season has exceeded the 200 mark. Strangely, the number of headed goals increased while the number of crosses decreased. In other words, the quality of the cross and the finish is what matters. Arsenal "won the championship", while Liverpool and Manchester City are both in the group of teams that scored the most headed goals. The story shows that: scoring goals with heads is a trendy weapon of today's strong teams, unlike the old days when only average and weak teams in English football liked to attack with high balls and score goals with heads.

Dissecting the way Declan Rice or Bukayo Saka "place" the ball in the goal-scoring area, as well as the movement of Arsenal players in front of the opponent's two goal posts, experts commented: Arsenal has raised the corner kick to an art form. They prepare very carefully, even for "live" situations, not just practicing on the training ground. From Jeremy Doku to Kyle Walker, Arsenal always chooses the opponent's player who seems to be slacking off and attacks him in the corner kick situation.

A big game can sometimes be decided by just one moment. Arsenal's ability to score goals from set pieces is linked to this trait. The credit goes to Nicolas Jover - Mikel Arteta's assistant set piece manager, who has been at Arsenal for the past two years, having been brought in by Arteta from... Manchester City!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/arsenal-khang-dinh-ngoi-vi-185240924215608492.htm