21 wins, 1 draw, 51 goals scored. It’s safe to say Bayern Munich’s start to the season has been scintillating, with the Bavarian battering ram in full force. Under Vincent Kompany, the German giants have begun the campaign in excellent form. As the Champions League resumes, they sit at the top of their group. After impressive victories over both world champions Chelsea and current holders PSG.
Their next opponents, though, are Europe’s tightest defence: Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has his resolute Arsenal side top of the Premier League and level with Bayern in the Champions League, despite multiple injuries affecting his squad. While the football may not always be easy on the eye, it has certainly been effective. Arteta will hope that their defensive solidity, having conceded only five goals so far this season, will help them secure an elusive win over Bayern when they welcome them to the Emirates on Wednesday.
Bayern on Fire
Vincent Kompany’s side started the season like a rocket. Winning their opening sixteen matches before a 2-2 draw with Union just before the international break. They have smashed records and, frankly, any team that has stood in their way. Kompany’s tactics, which combine a strong, ball-playing defence with electrifying attacking play, have seen them dominate both the Bundesliga and the Champions League. This is shown by the fact that they have trailed for a combined total of only twenty-three minutes across all competitions. Along with the nine clean sheets kept by thirty-nine-year-old Manuel Neuer, making them extremely difficult to beat.
Their attacking strength has been their most notable quality, and the best place to start is with new signing Luis Díaz. The Colombian arrived in the summer for £65 million from Liverpool and has quickly become one of the team’s standout performers. He has scored eleven goals and provided five assists so far, playing a key role on the left side of Kompany’s 4-2-3-1 system. These numbers place the twenty-eight-year-old among Europe’s elite forwards, sitting in the ninety-fifth percentile for non-penalty goals and the ninety-ninth percentile for expected assisted goals. The Colombian will miss the Arsenal match through suspension, though.
We cannot talk about Bayern without mentioning the goal machine that is Harry Kane. Now in his third season on the continent, the Englishman has continued his prolific goalscoring record and currently has an astonishing 24 goals in all competitions. That works out at an average of 1.48 goals per game. He is on track to break Robert Lewandowski’s remarkable 41-goal tally from the 2020-21 season and will no doubt have his sights set firmly on that target.
In his third season in Munich, Kane has been able to fully translate his style of play to the club. He now interprets his role in much the same way he did at Tottenham, operating not only as a traditional striker but also as a player who drops into midfield to link the play, distribute the ball and hit crossfield passes. This has helped unlock the talent of the aforementioned Díaz and Olise, who have benefited greatly from the space and service he creates.
It is also worth noting the emergence of starlet Lennart Karl. After catching the eye in pre-season and scoring seven goals in only thirteen appearances for Germany’s under-17s, the youngster has already played an important role for Kompany and looks set for the very top. Having been included in the Club World Cup squad during the summer, Karl then progressed into the first team and has enjoyed an explosive start to the season, registering two goals and an assist, including a stunning strike against Brugge in the Champions League that was reminiscent of former Bayern winger Arjen Robben. He was also instrumental in Bayern’s comeback win against Freiburg at the weekend, scoring and creating the goals that pulled the hosts level from two down.
Has Arteta Finally Got it Right?
Impenetrable at the back and effective in attack, Mikel Arteta has Arsenal sitting top of the two major competitions they are competing in, with excellent defensive records in both. Although they dropped points in a frantic match at the Stadium of Light before the international break, the Spaniard will be looking to bounce back with big wins as they begin the festive fixture period. Spurs came first in the North London derby, and now they welcome Bayern, hoping to right the wrongs of two seasons ago when the Gunners went out to the Germans in the last eight of this competition.
Much has been made of the resolute back five Arsenal have deployed so far this season. David Raya has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the league, leading the Golden Glove race in both the Premier League and Champions League, but it is the players in front of him who have really made headlines. None more so than Riccardo Calafiori. After an injury-marred first season in North London, the Italian has nailed down his place as Arsenal’s starting left-back with an exceptional start to the campaign. While he has contributed to the defensive solidity, averaging 3.99 clearances per ninety minutes, it is his attacking contribution that has caught people’s attention. Calafiori averages 2.71 touches per ninety in the opposition penalty area, placing him among the most advanced full-backs in Europe, which is especially impressive given Arteta’s system is not built around high-flying wing-backs. He also has twenty-one shot-creating actions in the Premier League alone this season.
We must also discuss the heart of Arsenal’s defence, the partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba, with Declan Rice just ahead of them. This trio has played a huge part in making the Gunners look more likely than ever to finally reach the top of the Premier League come May, which would be their first title in twenty-two years. Gabriel, however, now appears set for at least a month on the sidelines after picking up an injury while away with the national team.
When the pair have played together this season, they have been imperious. Arsenal have conceded only five goals with their partnership in place, and two of those came against Newcastle and Liverpool in matches where Saliba was unavailable through injury. Gabriel has also proved himself a consistent threat from set pieces, scoring twice and providing three assists already this campaign, while averaging 1.53 shot-creating actions per ninety minutes.
Jurrien Timber has also further cemented himself as one of Europe’s premier right-backs. The Dutchman has proved himself to be an excellent one-v-one defender, often trusted with handling the opposition’s most dangerous wide players. He has recorded 3.74 tackles per ninety minutes, along with an impressive tackle success rate of 73.3 per cent.
Made in South London, Shining on the World Stage
The key strength of Bayern’s attack is the multi-faceted nature of it, as we cannot talk about Díaz without acknowledging the talent of Michael Olise on the right-hand side. The former Crystal Palace man has only appeared in fifteen of Bayern’s matches this season due to injury issues, but that has not stopped him producing excellent numbers. He has seven goals and eight assists in all competitions so far, but the role he plays in allowing Díaz and Kane to thrive cannot be overstated. He has enjoyed individual success too, dominating the statistics for European forwards. He ranks in the ninety-ninth percentile for assists per ninety minutes (0.5), expected assists (0.43), shot-creating actions per ninety (6.63) and progressive passes received per ninety (11.83). As with Karl, he was also crucial in their comeback against Freiburg.
The Frenchman is not the only Selhurst Park graduate to impress this season, as Arsenal star Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick in Arsenal’s North London derby demolition of Spurs on Sunday. After a fruitful international break with England, in which he scored against Serbia, the Gunners’ number ten produced a scintillating performance as he put three past Thomas Frank’s side. He also won 77 per cent of his ground duels, completed all of his dribbles and created a big chance. Both he and Olise have shown that, despite slow starts to the campaign, they are hitting form at the right time and highlighting the strength of the Crystal Palace production line.
Wednesday’s Clash
Will it finally be revenge for the Gunners for the 5-1 thrashings of the past and the quarter-final defeat in 2024, or will Kompany’s men march to a twenty-first win of the season at the Emirates? With Díaz suspended, the Germans will be missing one major source of goals, but they have plenty of others, including Kane, who has fifteen goals against Arsenal and is the highest-scoring visiting player in the history of the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal have the home advantage and are yet to concede in the competition this year, but they will be without Gabriel, and their forward line remains depleted. It would not be a surprise if Bayern arrived and disrupted the party, but with Arsenal’s strong defence and the consistency of Bukayo Saka, who has twelve goals and six assists in the Champions League, a draw feels the most likely outcome, with a goal from Harry Kane, of course.
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