Who are the Arsenal players with the most tackles? Which Arsenal players have made the most tackles? Which Arsenal players made the most tackles per-game? Best Arsenal tacklers? Well, we are going to take a look at the stats and bring you the top five Arsenal players with the most tackles per-game in 2018/19.
We have already prepared a list of Arsenal Player With The Most Red Cards and Arsenal Games With The Most Yellow Cards! You can check out those pages to find out who has been the most aggressive Gunner this season.
But to clear out some doubt, the most amount of tackles does not indicate the best defensive performance one the pitch. Astute defenders like John Terry and Paolo Maldini always used to rely on their positioning and marking to stop opposition numbers. Even Sergio Busquets, for that matter, who is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world is hardly ever seen lunging for wild challenges. The Spaniard is sharp enough to notice the oppositions ball movement and only strikes for an interception when needed.
Arsenal have undergone a rough defensive season this past year and their record of 51 conceded goals in the Premier League will tell you why.
The Gunners defence line is in tatters through poor performances from players also due to the lack of an efficient system. Unai Emery’s biggest task this summer would be to improve the backline.
So, we will look at the best Arsenal tacklers in 2018/19. Players like Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Laurent Koscielny and Lucas Torreira have all been involved in major defensive responsibilities which indicates doing some of the dirty work for the team. But who among the Arsenal players has made the most tackles? Read on to find out.
Here is a list showing the Arsenal players who made was the most aggressive on the defensive end. All the statistics of tackles, interceptions, fouls, clearances, dribbles and blocks are calculated on a per match basis. This particular sheet has been taken from Whoscored.com.
Rank | Player | Apps | Mins | Tackles | Inter | Fouls | Clear | Drb | Blocks |
1 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | 11(5) | 986 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
2 | Shkodran Mustafi | 31 | 2617 | 2 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 5.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
3 | Lucas Torreira | 24(10) | 2381 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
4 | Granit Xhaka | 29 | 2502 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
5 | Sokratis | 25 | 2199 | 1.7 | 1 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
6 | Mohamed Elneny | 5(3) | 381 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
7 | Nacho Monreal | 21(1) | 1861 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
8 | Sead Kolasinac | 22(2) | 1891 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
9 | Matteo Guendouzi | 23(10) | 2144 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
10 | Aaron Ramsey | 14(14) | 1331 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.6 | – |
11 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 19(6) | 1645 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
12 | Laurent Koscielny | 13(4) | 1330 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
13 | Rob Holding | 9(1) | 807 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
14 | Stephan Lichtsteiner | 10(4) | 941 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
15 | Alexandre Lacazette | 27(8) | 2507 | 1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | – |
16 | Carl Jenkinson | 2(1) | 167 | 1 | – | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1 |
17 | Alex Iwobi | 22(13) | 1976 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | – |
18 | Héctor Bellerín | 18(1) | 1535 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
19 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | 30(6) | 2733 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | – |
20 | Joe Willock | 1(1) | 64 | 0.5 | 0.5 | – | – | – | – |
21 | Mesut Özil | 20(4) | 1742 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
22 | Danny Welbeck | 1(7) | 148 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | – | – |
23 | Denis Suárez | 0(4) | 67 | 0.3 | 0.3 | – | – | 1.3 | – |
24 | Konstantinos Mavropanos | 3(1) | 150 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | – | 0.3 |
25 | Eddie Nketiah | 0(5) | 63 | 0.2 | – | 0.2 | 0.2 | – | – |
26 | Petr Cech | 7 | 588 | 0.1 | – | – | 1 | – | – |
27 | Bernd Leno | 31(1) | 2833 | – | 0.1 | – | 1 | 0.1 | – |
28 | Bukayo Saka | 0(1) | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Rank | Player | Nationality | Tackles |
1 | Lucas Torreira | Uruguay | 65 |
2 | Shkodran Mustafi | Germany | 62 |
3 | Granit Xhaka | Switzerland | 52 |
4 | Matteo Guendouzi | France | 44 |
5 | Sokratis | Greece | 42 |
6 | Alexandre Lacazette | France | 35 |
6 | Nacho Monreal | Spain | 35 |
8 | Sead Kolasinac | Bosnia And Herzegovina | 34 |
8 | Aaron Ramsey | Wales | 34 |
10 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | England | 33 |
11 | Alex Iwobi | Nigeria | 28 |
11 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Armenia | 28 |
13 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Gabon | 21 |
14 | Laurent Koscielny | France | 19 |
15 | Héctor Bellerín | Spain | 15 |
15 | Stephan Lichtsteiner | Switzerland | 15 |
17 | Mohamed Elneny | Egypt | 13 |
18 | Mesut Özil | Germany | 12 |
19 | Rob Holding | England | 11 |
20 | Carl Jenkinson | England | 3 |
Sokratis is arguably Arsenal’s best defender and the responsibility he shoulders for this team is ridiculous. However, he made only 42 tackles in the Premier League in 2018/19 which is not a lot when compared to other teams. The Greek international has fully adapted to the English game and we can only hope to see him get better with a more able defensive partner.
Guendouzi has been a revelation for Arsenal this past season. There was a reason why Unai Emery chose to shell out £7m for the teenage midfielder who had only played Ligue 2 football with Lorient before.
Guendouzi’s ceiling is boundless and he really has all the tools to become one of the top deep-lying playmakers in the Premier League. He is still a bit raw on the defensive end but he is also only 20 years old and already a starter for Arsenal.
Xhaka is not particularly the most efficient when it comes to defending. The Swiss number ten is more comfortable playing off of an enforcer next to him.
He has been at Arsenal 3 years now and has shown hardly any signs of improvement. The 26-year-old’s game is still riddled with inconsistencies and lapses of judgement, which would include rash challenges when it’s completely unnecessary.
Mustafi has been shockingly poor for Arsenal in 2018/19, almost singlehandedly pulling Arsenal’s top four chances down in the Crystal Palace game in April. The German might be shown the exit door after the season.
Almost everyone might have expected this from the Uruguayan, who has become a star at the Emirates in his first full season with Arsenal. The midfielder is a defensive genius in the middle of the park.
He knows how to anticipate opposition attacks and makes timely challenges to clear out potential dangers. Torreira’s impact has been massive for the Gunners and the fans can also expect to see him get better for them over the years.
Rank | Player | Nationality | Fouls |
1 | Alexandre Lacazette | France | 51 |
2 | Granit Xhaka | Switzerland | 45 |
3 | Shkodran Mustafi | Germany | 42 |
4 | Lucas Torreira | Uruguay | 38 |
5 | Sokratis | Greece | 37 |
6 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan | Armenia | 27 |
7 | Matteo Guendouzi | France | 24 |
8 | Sead Kolasinac | Bosnia And Herzegovina | 21 |
8 | Aaron Ramsey | Wales | 21 |
10 | Nacho Monreal | Spain | 17 |
11 | Héctor Bellerín | Spain | 16 |
12 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Gabon | 13 |
13 | Stephan Lichtsteiner | Switzerland | 11 |
14 | Mesut Özil | Germany | 10 |
15 | Laurent Koscielny | France | 9 |
16 | Alex Iwobi | Nigeria | 8 |
16 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | England | 8 |
18 | Rob Holding | England | 6 |
19 | Danny Welbeck | England | 3 |
20 | Konstantinos Mavropanos | Greece | 2 |
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