Score early, score often, or don’t score at all

If Arsenal score before the 40th minute they win. That statistic should be written on the wall in the changing room, in big “Bould” letters. Get your head in the match, bury a goal early. Focus on the offence. 

Actually the statistic is score before the 43rd minute and Arsenal win the match. Several years ago Arsenal were blessed with late goals to tie matches and win matches, but recently the very last gasp heroics have disappeared recently to be filled with meaningless Walcott goals as described by my mates. 

Arsenal are no longer the late goal getters of the EPL, they are now the ‘score early and carve open the opponents’ team. Now this is nothing new as a concept, any team that goes down a goal early is going to open up as they stretch to counter with their own goal. Arsenal in some of the games where they have scored early the opponent has scored as well, but the opponents that have scored early do not have the goal scoring potential that Arsenal has (referring to Montpellier and West Ham), so the defence can be counted on to keep things at one goal and no more. Over the last three years 

Matches where Arsenal have scored before the 43rd minute. 

Podolski 31, Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal 

Hooiveld OG 11, Arsenal 6-1 Southampton 

Podolski 16, Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal 

Giroud 39, Arsenal 6-1 Coventry City 

Gervinho 42, Arsenal 3-1 Olympiacos 

Giroud 41, West Ham 1-3 Arsenal 

Even in the Southampton match, Podolski scored in the 31st minute. 

Look at some history over the previous two seasons. Arsenal have scored 4 or more goals on 13 occasions. Of those 13 occasions Arsenal won 12 and drew 1; Arsenal scored before the 43rd minute on 12 of those 13 occasions going 11wins and one draw. The average time of the first goal over those 13 matches is 21.15 minutes. In the matches where Arsenal scores in the first 40 minutes the average drops to 19.16 minutes for the first goal. So a reasonable assumption is that if Arsenal can put in an early goal that there is going to be a nice lopsided scoreline for the Arsenal. 

So this weekend vs QPR I’ll look for an early goal, it’s a goal that there is there to be taken. Let’s hope that Wenger goes to the lads and gets them up, pumped, and pounding the back of the old onion bag. 

SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN 

Cheers, 

Morgan 

@MorganArseCan 

[email protected]