Arsenal endured a grueling game on Sunday to move clear of their rivals in the table. After going a goal and a man down, the Gunners fired back to get the victory against Aston Villa. This was only the ninth occurrence of a team winning a match after having a player sent off while losing in the Premier League era. The comeback win under difficult circumstances certainly showed plenty of character and fight in the team; however, the north London club have to start stringing together good performances to remain in a top four position.

Picking up three points is always the most important part of a league match. Whether squeaking out a 3-2 win or coasting to a comfortable 3-0 victory, you will gain three points either way. Nevertheless, it is not always sustainable to continually put in average performances and get narrow wins. Particularly speaking on big clubs, there needs to be some consistency and dominance throughout the strenuous season to finish in a Champions League place.

In Arsenal’s case, they will obviously take the win on Sunday, but defensive issues are still plaguing the team. For much of the past decade, the Gunners have had a quality attack and a shaky defense. This is still the case today. Tactics and personnel obviously play a major part, but statistically speaking, there is some interesting data that shows a window into Arsenal’s defensive woes.

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Total shots faced have been a huge discussion point on social media as of late. While Arsenal are obviously allowing a ton of shots on their goal, the bigger question is how are teams able to get into attacking spaces to fire off shots at will?

One clue is the fact that the Gunners are not tackling well. As a team, Arsenal have been dribbled past a combined 62 times and have a tackle success rate of just 58% (both are worst among the ‘big six’ clubs). They are also being dispossessed at a surprising rate as well. With 76 total dispossessions, the north London clubs loses possession more than any other team in the Premier League outside of Manchester United.

These issues are also not strictly limited to Arsenal’s defenders. Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos, while great players, are lacking in these two specific areas. The midfield duo has combined for 15 dispossessions and a tackle success rate of just 40%.

The Premier League season is, however, still young. Just six games into the campaign, Arsenal (and every other team) have time to figure things out moving forward. The Gunners, in particular, do have a bit of a safety net, as defenders Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, and Dinos Mavropanos are all close to returning to action. The quartet should help bring some stability to a team in desperate need of defensive aid. Although as previously mentioned, the midfield needs to do more to help their defending teammates as well.