The Gunners take on the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light in under an hour’s time. So here are six Player Performance stats you ought to know about both sides:
Sunderland find themselves teetering on the verge of the relegation zone after the second heaviest defeat in the history of the Premier League last weekend. They will want to get straight back on track this weekend and extend their unbeaten home run to three by taking all three points against the North London side later today.
1. Having failed to find the net last weekend, Sunderland will be hoping that this week is a very different occasion, and in Conor Wickham they have a goal scorer. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, he is the 5th fastest player recorded in the Premier League so far this season, clocking an impressive 35.8km/h. The 21 year old English striker has already found the back of the net once this season and is 13/4 to score anytime with 888sport.com.
2. At the other end of the pitch, Patrick van Aanholt has impressed with his defensive statistics, as shown by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. The former Chelsea man has won the fourth most tackles in the Premier League so far this season, with an impressive 31 tackles won, winning 72.09% of his tackles. He also holds the joint third most interceptions in the league with 25, and will look to be as solid as ever against a side with great wingers like Arsenal.
3. Whilst Arsenal have plenty of attacking threat from midfield, Sunderland possess their own weapon from midfield in Adam Johnson. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index illustrates that the English left footer has scored one goal from just four shots this season, and is more than willing to chip in defensively if needs be. He has won 75% of his tackles and completed 73.64% of his dribbles, illustrating his qualities both going forward and tracking back.
Arsenal managed to grab an injury time equaliser at home to Hull last weekend to gift themselves a point, but they remain without a league win in three. In order to secure their third win of the season this year, Arsenal will be looking to keep a second clean sheet and head back to North London potentially sitting in the top four once more.
4. In order to ensure Arsenal tighten up in defence, they will be looking to their defensive stalwart Laurent Koscielny to take charge. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that the French international has become a fantastic reader of the game, having racked up 25 interceptions already this term. He has also won 73.3% of his tackles and will need to ensure that his reading of the game is at its absolute best to deal with the pace of the Sunderland attack.
5. In midfield, no one can doubt that Arsenal possess an abundance of talent. In Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla, Arsenal possess three of the best passers in the Premier League, as highlighted by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. The trio are all in the top eight for most passes completed in the opposition half having completed 293, 285 and 275 respectively. It is important that they continue to keep possession in these dangerous areas and convert these passes into assists.
6. Whilst everyone knows Arsenal to be a fantastic passing side, they are equally adept at being direct. Arsenal’s top scorer is Alexis Sanchez with three Premier League goals, and Alexis Sanchez, Cazorla and Jack Wilshere are all in the top ten for dribbles completed in the Premier League. Sanchez and Cazorla are joint fourth having completed 19 dribbles, with England international Wilshere having completed 18 dribbles; the seventh most in the league. This shows that Arsenal can be more direct in their approach and should not be shy of doing so.
