Welcome to The Debrief. In his Sky Sports column, Adam Bate combines data and opinion to examine the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. this week:
Arsenal’s Max Dauman’s progressive carry Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoja’s successful dribbling Guglielmo Vicario’s expected goal worries Spurs
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Free to watch: Premier League Arsenal vs Everton highlights
Dauman’s ball carrying is key.
Inside the stadium Saturday evening, it felt like a season-defining moment. At first glance, Arsenal’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Everton, which came from the final kick of the match, was superfluous. Please convey that to your fans. Tell that to young Max Dauman.
The 16-year-old became the Premier League’s youngest scorer after running from his own half with Jordan Pickford stranded. Everton were looking for an equaliser, but nerves were running high and the emotional release was cathartic for Arsenal.
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Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are creating memories that fans will remember forever
But beyond the emotions of a day of shifting momentum, Dauman’s involvement was more than symbolic, especially given Manchester City dropped points later in the evening. His presence on the pitch was the driving force behind the opening goal.
Mikel Arteta’s positive changes have paid off, with Martin Zubimendi removed and Eberechi Eze moved into a deeper role. Dowman got the crowd on a high, but he changed the game and atmosphere with his more deliberate running in the Everton defence.
Dauman’s touch map for Arsenal vs Everton
One Arsenal supporter nearby shouted as the home side tried to force the winner to “give it to Max!” This sums up the emotion inside the stadium, and there are statistics to back up why this schoolboy is able to generate such emotion among the crowd.
Dauman played in the 74th minute and had a total of seven progressive carries in a brief cameo. This was more than any other Arsenal attacking player in the entire match. Other players were a little too slow in moving the ball forward, which was a problem.
Everton were allowed to move back into position behind the ball and it proved difficult to break through. Dauman made a difference with his aggressiveness. In doing so, he may have changed everything for Arteta and Arsenal. It is truly the defining moment of the season.
Ngumoha’s dribbling offers a solution
Fellow teenager Rio Ngmoha had his own magical moment earlier this season when, aged just 16, he scored the winning goal in the 100th minute for Liverpool against Newcastle. His performance in his first start in the Premier League also drew attention.
Ngmoha was initially kept out due to Arne Slott, but his encouraging performance in the FA Cup win over Wolves earned him a place in Liverpool’s squad for their big Champions League match against Galatasaray in midweek.
Ngmoha, now 17, more than justified his participation. In fact, his total of seven successful dribbles was the highest ever for a Premier League weekend. You would have to go back more than eight years to find the last time a Liverpool player scored more goals in a match.
In fact, Iliman Ndiaye and Jeremy Doku are the only players on the team to have dribbled successfully in a Premier League game this season. Interestingly, neither man had a 100% success rate in doing so. Ngumoha has a special gift.
“You can’t stop that player one-on-one,” Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports. “He seems very sharp.” It wasn’t just his dribbling. A threaded ball to Florian Wirtz pulled Spurs back in the second half. “Ngmoha’s work is once again amazing,” enthuses Carragher.
As Carragher pointed out, Gumoha provides some of the penetration that Liverpool have lacked this season. They can be too passive at times and seem happy to recycle possession rather than actually harming the team. After he was replaced, it took its toll.
Slott is expected to return to a more familiar line-up against Galatasaray, but it’s only a matter of time before he trusts his teenage instincts and gets more minutes. “We’re pushing Gumoha not just to start, but to start in important games,” Carragher said.
Vicario remains a problem for Spurs
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Free to watch: Premier League highlights of Liverpool vs Spurs
In the end, Guglielmo Vicario played his part in helping Tottenham pick up a valuable point at Anfield. A smart stop to deny Kodi Gakpo and a save with his feet to deny Mohamed Salah prevented Liverpool from doubling their lead.
But it’s understandable that Spurs supporters can’t overlook the moment that left their team behind in the first place. Vicario’s failure to deny Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick in the first half highlighted a problem that has plagued the season.
“Liverpool have a free-kick specialist, but Tottenham don’t have a goalkeeping specialist,” Carragher said in co-commentary. “It has to be saved. It’s terrible.” It was Vicario’s 11th goal conceded from outside the box so far this season.
This is four more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League and may help explain why Vicario’s ‘goal prevention’ figures are so worrying. This compares the number of goals allowed to the number of expected goals, taking into account the location of shots on target.
Vicario ranks last in this metric, costing Spurs two more goals than the next keeper and 10 more than someone at the other end of the spectrum. Even an average Premier League goalkeeper could help this Tottenham team out of trouble.
On the evidence last week, Spurs don’t have that goalkeeper. It was quite an experience to see Antonin Kinski struggle so much in Spain, and Igor Tudor was rightly criticized for his handling of the situation against Atletico Madrid.
Some might argue that getting sacked in that game hurt Vicario’s confidence. That would be a generous interpretation. According to the statistics, this appears to be the reason Tudor chose to remove him in the first place. The Spurs still have goaltending issues.
