Aston Villa v Arsenal 24/08/24 1730

[HCZ_Reborn]

The key stat away from home is whether we score a goal in the first half

Last two seasons, 23 times in the first half away from home we managed to get a goal and had 18 wins, 4 draws and 1 defeat

Compare that to when we didn’t score in the first half of games - 7 wins 2 draws 6 defeats (although only 5 of those 15 games we failed to get a goal in the second half)

[HCZ_Reborn]

Speaking of terrible records coming from behind. United away, conceded the first goal 16 times on the road last two seasons lost all but three (1 win, 2 draws)

[Mac76]

Jesus injured again apparently.

could be a blessing in disguise, hopefuly that will strengthen our resolve to buy another attacking player

[HCZ_Reborn]

could be a blessing in disguise, hopefuly that will strengthen our resolve to buy another attacking player

I think we need to buy someone just to add to the squad depth, the question is who

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Of course like all stats they can be misleading, and show it from another perspective out of the last 38 away games we took the lead in 28 of those games….winning 24 drawing 3 and losing 1. Which then shows how near on impossible it is for other teams to get back in games against us once we’ve taken the lead

Also we had Auba in the side for 13 of the 25 away games cited and still lost 8 times

In regards to Chelsea, their recovery rate is 13 wins from 60 and ours is 11 from 48 which is identical in terms of percentages.

And they’ve gone behind first 31 times since the start of 2022/2023 season and lost all but nine of those games (4 wins, 5 draws)

We’ve gone behind 18 times in that same period and our record is 5 3 10.

At the risk of ruining a match thread, I don't think there is anything misleading here. Since Arteta got here we have prioritised defending over everything else, not necessarily a bad thing seeing where Emery left us, though there is an argument to make that it has strangely become an unhealthy obsession that seeps out in every aspect of the club (e.g. recruitment). IIRC besides Fulham and Lens, all the games we lost last season were because we could not respond to not taking the lead. As good a defence might be( and ours has been great), you cannot build a trophy winning side on the idea you expect to take the lead in every single game. Recovery is essential.

Looking at your stats, in the 49 games we lost the lead, we recovered in 35% of them. Citeh recovered in 58%, Liverpool in 63%, Spuds in 46% and Chelsea in 38%. Assuming the stats you posted are all EPL games, we recovered 27% of the available points (39 out of 147). Citeh recovered 44%, Liverpool 45%, Tottenham 38% and Chelsea 27% ( they are actually higher than us as I had to round ours up).

We have no business imitating a poorly coached/managed Chelsea side. Recovery is an essential part of winning DNA, especially in knockout tournaments as successful Madrid and Liverpool sides have routinely proven.

[Mac76]

At the risk of ruining a match thread, I don't think there is anything misleading here. Since Arteta got here we have prioritised defending over everything else, not necessarily a bad thing seeing where Emery left us, though there is an argument to make that it has strangely become an unhealthy obsession that seeps out in every aspect of the club (e.g. recruitment). IIRC besides Fulham and Lens, all the games we lost last season were because we could not respond to not taking the lead. As good a defence might be( and ours has been great), you cannot build a trophy winning side on the idea you expect to take the lead in every single game. Recovery is essential.

Looking at your stats, in the 49 games we lost the lead, we recovered in 35% of them. Citeh recovered in 58%, Liverpool in 63%, Spuds in 46% and Chelsea in 38%. Assuming the stats you posted are all EPL games, we recovered 27% of the available points (39 out of 147). Citeh recovered 44%, Liverpool 45%, Tottenham 38% and Chelsea 27% ( they are actually higher than us as I had to round ours up).

We have no business imitating a poorly coached/managed Chelsea side. Recovery is an essential part of winning DNA, especially in knockout tournaments as successful Madrid and Liverpool sides have routinely proven.

A candidate for Post Of The Year

[HCZ_Reborn]

At the risk of ruining a match thread, I don't think there is anything misleading here. Since Arteta got here we have prioritised defending over everything else, not necessarily a bad thing seeing where Emery left us, though there is an argument to make that it has strangely become an unhealthy obsession that seeps out in every aspect of the club (e.g. recruitment). IIRC besides Fulham and Lens, all the games we lost last season were because we could not respond to not taking the lead. As good a defence might be( and ours has been great), you cannot build a trophy winning side on the idea you expect to take the lead in every single game. Recovery is essential.

Looking at your stats, in the 49 games we lost the lead, we recovered in 35% of them. Citeh recovered in 58%, Liverpool in 63%, Spuds in 46% and Chelsea in 38%. Assuming the stats you posted are all EPL games, we recovered 27% of the available points (39 out of 147). Citeh recovered 44%, Liverpool 45%, Tottenham 38% and Chelsea 27% ( they are actually higher than us as I had to round ours up).

We have no business imitating a poorly coached/managed Chelsea side. Recovery is an essential part of winning DNA, especially in knockout tournaments as successful Madrid and Liverpool sides have routinely proven.

But again they can be misleading because a) there is a big gulf in results between 2019 and the end of the 2022 season


49 wins

19 draws

31 defeats



And the last two seasons continuing into this one


55 wins

13 draws

11 defeats


It’s clearly not just about being defensive either when in those 77 games we have scored 181 goals

In those games we have gone behind 18 times and recovered to get some kind of result 8 (I agree I think it should be better) but I think it’s also worth bearing in mind that in those games we’ve scored the first goal 57 times.

So I really don’t think it’s a case of us playing too defensively, our recovery rate is akin to that of City in the last couple of seasons who like us rarely go behind to begin with

The fact is our recovery rate was just as poor under Wenger and we definitely had a more attacking philosophy. I think there was a stat where we went ten years without winning a game away from home where we were behind at half time


I’m no fan of Arteta, I think we’ve spent too much on defenders but I use these stats to show we’ve got a clear area of improvement. I don’t think it’s as simple as just buying a striker though.

[HCZ_Reborn]

So just looking now and starting from Wenger’s first game in charge right up to the amount of games that Arteta has managed, Arsenal’s recovery record was 10 wins, 12 draws and 27 defeats. So not really fantastically better either.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

It's definitely not as simple as just buying a striker but you definitely lessen your chances from coming back from a deficit if you don't have a decent one that can stand up to the added pressure of going a goal (or two) down and putting the chances we inevitably create away.

Not wanting to go down memory lane, I do remember AW's successful sides easily coming back either twice in a game or even from two goals down (didn't this happen like twice against Boro or so). Even the more recent sides that he coached that weren't that great still had that ability (don't forget Liverpool 4- Arshavin 4). I'm sure if I check, Emery's sides were still able to do this to ie. the last regime our forwards actually looked menacing.

Anyway, lets just keep our fingers crossed that Villa doesn't take the lead again today..it'll be a shame if Emery beats him 3 times in a row using the same trick.

[HCZ_Reborn]

It's definitely not as simple as just buying a striker but you definitely lessen your chances from coming back from a deficit if you don't have a decent one that can stand up to the added pressure of going a goal (or two) down and putting the chances we inevitably create away.

Not wanting to go down memory lane, I do remember AW's successful sides easily coming back either twice in a game or even from two goals down (didn't this happen like twice against Boro or so). Even the more recent sides that he coached that weren't that great still had that ability (don't forget Liverpool 4- Arshavin 4). I'm sure if I check, Emery's sides were still able to do this to ie. the last regime our forwards actually looked menacing.

Anyway, lets just keep our fingers crossed that Villa doesn't take the lead again today..it'll be a shame if Emery beats him 3 times in a row using the same trick.

Erm I’m looking at games purely where we concede the first goal in a game

The Arshavin game at Anfield, we scored the first goal, and in fact were only behind once during the game


We actually gave away the lead three times in that game at 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3


We also came back from 3-0 down against West Ham under Arteta to draw 3-3

Came back from two nil down against Chelsea and when Chelsea twice took the lead against us despite playing the majority of the game with ten men.


You can always find examples of where we’ve come back in games under any coach


But under Wenger there were also loads of games where we conceded first like in the opening five minutes of a game and despite all the huffing and puffing couldn’t break sides down