Arsenal stats: Should Leandro Trossard start more games for Mikel Arteta? | OneFootball

Leandro Trossard has a penchant for producing the goods at key moments for Arsenal.

The Belgian set Arsenal on their way to a crucial 2-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday — opening the scoring just before half-time at Molineux, to help keep the Gunners’ title hopes alive.

And it is not the first time he has struck at pivotal points of Arsenal’s season, having made a host of game-changing contributions in 2023/24.

After such a significant impact, does Trossard warrant more starts for Mikel Arteta’s side?

Goal machine

Trossard consistently delivers when afforded minutes on the pitch.

He is averaging 0.63 goals per 90 in the Premier League this term, which puts him just outside the division’s top 10 players.

But his record of 0.56 open play goals per 90 is actually the fourth-best in England’s top tier, with only Erling Haaland (0.58), Diogo Jota (0.63) and Chris Wood (0.68) posting better numbers.

Having scored a total of nine times in the Premier League over a modest 1286 minutes of action, it is not unreasonable to wonder what Trossard’s tally would be if he consistently started for the Gunners.

Substitute success

Trossard is arguably the victim of his own success as an impact substitute.

If we include his equalising strike in August’s Community Shield triumph over Manchester City, six of the 29-year-old’s 14 goals across all competitions have come when appearing off the bench — 20 times, compared with 21 starts.

That is an commenable ratio, which makes Arteta’s tendency to utilise him in the latter stages of matches understandable.

However, Trossard’s impressive finishing ability suggests that he could be making an even greater contribution if handed more game time.

An output of 3.36 shots and 1.33 shots on target per 90 puts Arsenal’s versatile forward comfortably inside the Premier League’s top 20 players for both metrics, and bodes well for his chances of adding more goals in the coming weeks.

Time to step up

Arsenal face a challenging run-in, with matches against Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United in their final five fixtures.

The Gunners will therefore need their big-game players to step up to the plate — and Trossard undoubtedly falls into that category.

His goal against Everton in September turned a tight encounter into a 1-0 victory, while his 84th-minute strike salvaged a 2-2 draw against Chelsea in their first meeting this season.

The 32-cap international also chipped in with a goal and an assist to ensure Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1 in September, as well as taking their Champions League tie with Porto to penalties after netting in the 1-0 second-leg win.