Saka has had at least one direct goal involvement in every game he’s played for us this season except for the 1-0 win at Palace.
He’s had a total of 12 direct goal involvements which represents 52% of the goals Arsenal have scored in games featuring Saka and 57% of the goals Arsenal have scored while Saka was on the pitch (2 goals - against PSV and Bournemouth - were scored after Saka had been subbed off with Arsenal already leading 3-0).
The two games he didn’t play were both 1-0 wins (Brentford in the League Cup and Man City), so Saka has been directly involved in 48% of Arsenal’s total goals this season, including those scored in games he didn’t play.
Personally, I don’t think this is because of anything Saka is doing. He’s been playing very well, as usual, but the fact Arsenal are depending on him so heavily for goal contributions reflects the fact that our other attacking players have been much less dangerous than we would like.
What needs to be done to remove this burden from Saka and ensure we don’t become a one-man attacking team?
Hasn’t been a full season yet, let’s look at the numbers when we’re 30+ games in
Agreed, I’m just commenting on what we’ve seen so far
Thing is, Saka could blank for 4/5 games, Martinelli gets a couple, Ode gets a couple and all of a sudden it’s a very different outlook.
Plus the Chelsea game was the first time we have seen Saka, Jesus and Martinelli start together this season and you’ve got to remember that’s the combination that got us so many goals last season.
Team has been disjointed so far and there are many different reasons for it but one of them has been availability.
This is why there’s no point in comparing 9 games in the PL to a full season. Give it time.
not sure if this is something worth arguing about. There have been numerous articles analysing our overall chance creation issues. What appears to be a reliance on Saka is a symptom, not a cause.