xGunners: Arsenal vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Stats Preview

Arsenal face Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, let’s see what the stats say about them.

Team Ranking

My team ranking system puts Wolves as the tenth best team but just about on par with the Crystal Palace team that held Arsenal to a draw.

Where they shoot from

Wolverhampton take a total of 14.6 shots per match (3rd). With 5 of those shots coming from the danger zone area per match (11th) and that makes up 35% of their total shots. They take 2.6 shots per match from the wide box areas (5th, 1%) and 6.8 from outside the box (2nd, 46.6%).

How they create shots

68% of their shots are assisted

78% of their shots come from open play

13% of their shots are assisted by a cross

17% of their shots come from a fast/direct attack

3.1% of their shots are classified as counter attacks by Opta

1.2% of their shots follow corner kicks

1.9% of their shots are assisted by through balls

16.8% of their shots are from direct free kicks

Who creates their offense

Raúl Jiménez has been Wolves main offensive threat this season. He is accounting for over 27% of Wolverhampton’s xG this season.

Wolverhampton have a conversion rate of 5.7% with an xG per shot of 0.09, for an efficiency rating of 61% which is the fourth worst in the league.

They are putting a slightly below league average amount of their shots on target (32%) but converting those shots on target into goals at a rate of just 17.6% which is the fourth worst mark in the league compared to the league average of 29%. Slightly worrying for Wolverhampton is that while they have a fairly good attack, they are really struggling to convert the big chances that they have created. They have a big chance conversion rate of 21.1% which is fourth worst in the league and well below the league average of 36%.

Wolverhampton have a right sided bias in their attack, with 44% coming down that side compared to 35% down the left and 21% central.

Where they give up shots from

Wolves are allowing just 10.9 shots per match (6th fewest) with 3.2 per match coming from the danger zone (2nd fewest), 2.1 shots per match from the wide box areas (10th fewest) and 5.6 shots per match from outside the box (16th fewest). They block 19.2% of the shots they face (4th most).

They play a fairly compact style that keeps them in good shape defensively and it shows with the amount of direct attacks they concede, with just 15% of their shots from fast/direct attacks this season.

The overall conversion rate for the teams that they have faced is above what the expected goals would suggest. They have given up a 10% conversion vs xG per shot of 0. 09 but a good portion of that can be explained with the shot placement of the shots they have allowed, 12.5 SP xG vs 12 goals allowed.

How they defend

On defense, Wolves are an active team in racking up defensive counting statistics. They average 45.1 defensive actions per match (tackles, interceptions, dribbled past, fouls) which is the 5th highest mark in the league.

This high action defensive statistics doesn’t translate into a high pressing team, their passes allowed per defensive action is in the middle of the pack for the league at 10.1, but they do seem to contest the ball fairly high up the pitch.