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11 things you SHOULD know about West Brom v Arsenal

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imagesHere are 11 things you should know about West Brom and Arsenal prior to kick-off this afternoon at The Hawthorns:

1. West Brom and Arsenal were both participants in high-scoring fixtures in their last Premier League outing, though Arsenal were on the happier end.

2. West Brom suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham, with a late Graham Dorrans penalty turning out to be nothing more than a minor consolation.

3. That was Dorrans’ first Premier League goal of the season, despite 26 previous efforts at goal including 16 shots on target, not far behind Sun Yeung Ki who has had 32 efforts without scoring this season, and holds the unwanted title of the most shots without scoring in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

4. Dorrans has been more effective at linking up play this season, and has completed 259 passes in the opposition half this season.

5. Jonas Olsson has led the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for clearances made for most of the season, but in the last game he joined an elite group of just five players who have made 30 or more blocks this season.

6. Arsenal, meanwhile, beat Reading 4-1 to boost their hopes of a top four finish this season. Four different goal-scorers in Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud, Mikel Arteta and Gervinho showed that West Brom will need to be mindful of danger all over the park in today’s game.

7. Cazorla has enjoyed a fantastic first season for Arsenal. Of the top twenty players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for total shots at goal, only Christian Benteke has hit a higher percentage on target than Cazorla (68.6%). Cazorla is ranked 3rd overall for shots on target this season, behind only Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale, having tested the goalkeeper 66 times this season.

8. Gervinho scored in his second successive game, and his new confidence was shown in the four dribbles he completed, the joint highest in the last round of games.

9. As well as four different goal-scorers, Arsenal had the top four players in the last round of games for passes completed in the opposition half. Cazorla (55), Aaron Ramsey (54), Tomas Rosicky (54) and Arteta (52) showed the sort of dominant passing football that Arsene Wenger has been working towards all season.

10. Rosicky has had limited playing time this season, but has been very effective on the pitch, completing a pass in opposition territory every 1 minute and 42 seconds.

11. Arteta should become one of just three players to pass 1,000 passes in the opposition half against West Brom. The Spaniard is currently on 995, behind only Cazorla (1170) and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure (1039).

Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.

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