Mikel Arteta referred to Chelsea as the top attacking team in the league after Arsenal’s victory against the Blues on Sunday, a statement that garnered considerable attention.
“In my opinion, they’re the best attacking team in the league. By a mile. The stats say it, everything I’ve seen says it in open play,” the Arsenal coach said.
“They can open you, they can run in transitions, they have individual quality, any player in the defensive line can threaten inside. They can combine on both sides, their weaker sides.”
This is a commendable level of flattery reminiscent of Pep Guardiola, coming from an individual who has evidently absorbed valuable lessons from the expert. He asserts that the statistics support his claims; however, Chelsea currently ranks second in the league based on expected goals (xG), trailing the leaders Liverpool by a significant margin of 10 xG. In terms of actual goals scored, they are tied for fourth place with Arsenal.
Moreover, when one takes into account that a substantial portion of this performance is bolstered by our form in 2024, the argument becomes even less persuasive.
In his column for Sky Sports, Paul Merson had the same take we did:
“I’m not buying into that one. I’m not buying in,” the former Arsenal man said of Arteta’s quotes in his column for Sky Sports.
“[Chelsea] scored one goal against Leicester to win 1-0. Leicester, in their previous 20 matches, had only failed once to let in two or more goals in a Premier League game.
“I’m flabbergasted by [Arteta’s] quote. I honestly don’t get that. There will be a lot of Chelsea fans reading that thinking, ‘Wow! What is he talking about?’.”
We stand in solidarity with you, Paul. While it is undeniable that we possess some talented attacking players, anyone who observed our first-half performances against Copenhagen, Leicester, and Arsenal on Saturday and still claims we are a great attacking team is being disingenuous.
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