Arsenal’s pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple continued on Wednesday night as Mikel Arteta’s side strolled past Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, and Danny Murphy has subsequently heaped praise on the Spaniard’s team.
A stunning strike from Eberechi Eze and a controlled finish from Declan Rice secured the Gunners’ passage in the last eight of Europe’s elite competition. The North Londoners looked assured throughout, limiting Kasper Hjulmand’s side to very little, while creating a host of chances themselves.
A quarter-final tie against Sporting awaits, while Arsenal have Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, as well as an FA Cup tie against Southampton, to look forward to. Talk of a quadruple is starting to circulate in the public sphere, and Gunners supporters will no doubt be starting to dream.
Danny Murphy praises ‘impressive’ Arsenal
Arsenal’s success this season has been built on their defensive resilience, and Tuesday night’s victory over Leverkusen was as solid from a defensive standpoint as any Gunners display this season. They prevented die Werkself from threatening them for the majority of the match, with David Raya’s late save from Christian Kofane the only real chance for the away side.
Leverkusen ended the game having accumulated just 0.52 expected goals – a reflection of Arsenal’s dominance.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Premier League midfield and now pundit Murphy waxed lyrical about the North Londoners’ defensive mindset, claiming that it all stems from Arteta.
“I mean, they’ve still had a little wobble at times, but they’ve not had anyone who’s flying enough to put the pressure on, but they’re still so impressive,” he said.
“I think the thing I love about them most is their mindset in terms of how to defend, and they don’t carry anyone defensively. They’re so good defensively, even when they’re not playing well.
“It’s really impressive, and that comes from the manager because he won’t have anyone not doing their jobs.”
Arsenal’s defensive numbers this season have been out of this world
Arsenal haven’t just been impressive defensively this season, they’ve been one of the best defensive teams the Premier League has ever witnessed.
They simply don’t give the opposition a sniff throughout football matches, and this is reflected in the data. The Gunners have kept 15 clean sheets in 31 league matches this term, while they’ve prevented the opposition from scoring in 25 of their 49 games across all competitions.
Beneath the surface, their underlying numbers are equally astounding. Arteta’s outfit have conceded just 21.7 non-penalty expected goals in the Premier League this term. Manchester City boast the second-lowest xG against, 31.8, over 10 xG more than the North Londoners.
| Position | Team | Pld | NPxGA |
| 1 | Arsenal | 31 | 21.7 |
| 2 | City | 30 | 31.8 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 30 | 32 |
| 4 | United | 30 | 33.6 |
| 5 | Brentford | 30 | 34.4 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 30 | 34.6 |
On top of this, Arsenal have conceded 0.5 xG or less in 25 of their matches across all competitions. They’ve allowed more than one xG in just eleven games. This is an absurd level of defensive security, and Arteta should receive more flowers for it.
Alan Pardew has criticised Arsenal’s style of play this season, but it’s ultimately proving to be extremely successful.
