Four games. 54 shots. Three goals. Two of them courtesy of opposition players. They say you can prove just about anything with statistics.But right now, the numbers coming out of the Emirates suggest just one gloomy and inescapable truth: Arsenal are desperately short of quality strikers.
This is a club that's prided itself on getting the most out of attacking players who struggled elsewhere.
Players like Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie to a lesser extent and even Theo Walcott's idol himself and the club's greatest ever goalscorer, Thierry Henry.
After all, Arsenal's creative players create so many chances for their strikers that surely anyone with a pair of football boots should be able to successfully lead that particular line?
Except that just isn't the case. Arsenal needed another own goal to beat 10-man Newcastle this weekend with Walcott so ineffectual in the central striker position that club legend Ian Wright was damning in his assessment of the England international.
The BT Sport pundit said that Arsene Wenger's protracted decision to convert him from a winger to a striker had come years too late to bear fruit.
"They needed to do this five years ago if they were going to take him out of the right-hand side and into the centre and try to teach him how to make those runs. "He scored a hat-trick against let’s face it West Brom at the end of last season and a very poor Aston Villa side in the FA Cup final and now they’re putting him up front and basically telling him to get on with it."
Especially when he's so effective playing on the right of a front three, Walcott's shift into the middle just seems like an experiment that is doomed to fail.
Remove the England international and an out-of-form Olivier Giroud from the equation and there's very little else to get excited about at the Emirates.
Danny Welbeck has been injured and never really proved his doubters wrong last year.
Alexis Sanchez has failed to convince in the No.9 role when he has been tasked with leading the line.
Neither Joel Campbell, nor Yaya Sanogo, are anywhere near good enough for the first XI, while Chuba Akpom is years away from being ready, if he does one day make the grade.
In case you've forgotten after just four games, this was supposed to be Arsenal's year.
How have things got this bad?
If we take Manchester City as the standard setters this year, just how far off the pace are the Gunners?
According to Opta, they're closer than you may imagine - but fall hopelessly short in one key area.
Arsenal have created the most shots in the league after four games (54) with Manchester City in the chasing pack (48).
The positions of the two teams are switched when it comes to shots on target, City in first (29) and Arsenal trailing the league leaders and Swansea in third (27).
So far, so title challenge.
If we take Manchester City as the standard setters this year, just how far off the pace are the Gunners?
According to Opta, they're closer than you may imagine - but fall hopelessly short in one key area.
Arsenal have created the most shots in the league after four games (54) with Manchester City in the chasing pack (48).
The positions of the two teams are switched when it comes to shots on target, City in first (29) and Arsenal trailing the league leaders and Swansea in third (27).
So far, so title challenge.
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