00:00The way Arsenal can beat Man City and silence their doubters is the same thing by solving their
00:06kryptonite. The set-piece cliche for Arsenal exists for a reason. They are very good at them.
00:10But Man City are very good at defending them. Their XG conceded from set-pieces is second best
00:15in the league, and they've conceded just twice from set-piece deliveries into the box this season.
00:20It's an open play where the defensive weaknesses lie. Their open play, XG conceded, is a whopping
00:2512.12 worse than Arsenal's. Whilst it's still the third best in the league, they sit below Man
00:31United and marginally above leaky Liverpool Palace, and they're just 3.8 better than Leeds United.
00:38Arsenal's open play, XG Created, is sixth best in the league. They're a team who relies on controlling
00:42games and taking advantage of the numerous set-pieces they generate when teams are sat in against them.
00:47And there's nothing wrong with that, but that's not how they will beat Man City. Pep's team need
00:51to win and will likely take risks in order to achieve that. We saw in the League Cup final,
00:55on the rare occasions a poor Arsenal got forward, they were able to create fairly easily. This is
01:00a game for Arsenal's open play attack to thrive, and they have to be empowered to do so by Mikel
01:05Arteta.
01:05Arsenal simply must push men forward at speed when given the chance. This is not the Arsenal way this
01:11season. Maybe if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But an Arsenal goal on Sunday alone could be enough to
01:16win them the league, and it's from open play where their chances are best. This is set-piece
01:21FC to many, but to shake the nearly men tag, they will need to shake that label too.
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