Arsene Wenger has praised Arsenal’s efficiency in front of goal but is it really sustainable? Adam Bate examines the statistics that suggest the Gunners will need to create more… Arsenal have scored 24 Premier League goals this season. Theyre among the top four scorers. Those teams also happen to be the four at the top of the table and the favourites to win the title according to the bookmakers. In other words, theyre in good company. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal and get the first six months half price But delve deeper into the numbers and Arsenals success so far has been different to rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. Its been built on efficiency rather than creativity. A side with a reputation for wastefulness in front of goal has been unusually ruthless. Arsene Wenger has noticed the trend himself. Maybe the reason for us scoring freely of late is that weve been making more of our chances, the manager suggested last month when discussing the matter. The final ball is better. Is that because our finishing is better? Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Its difficult to analyse at the moment, but what is for sure is that we score more goals. We score lots of goals. Thats what our game is about. We have a risky game and therefore its important that we take our chances.Perhaps cruelly, Wenger took the decision to ruminate on Arsenals efficiency ahead of the home game against Middlesbrough. His players proceeded to play out a 0-0 draw and the tune changed. We have to find a way to be efficient even when the games are like that. The Sunday Supplement panel on whether Mesut Ozil will sign a new deal Thats the crux of the problem. Can Arsenal really be expected to sustain such efficiency? Arsenal have scored a goal for every 5.1 chances theyve created this season - better than anyone else. Thats a good thing. But history would suggest it is too good to continue.The next best conversion rate belongs to Chelsea who are scoring a goal for every 5.7 chances they create. Thats the same as champions Leicester managed in being last seasons most efficient side. The season before that, the best rate was a goal every 6.3 chances. Chances created per goal - Selected teams PL Rank Team Chances / goal 1 Arsenal 5.1 2 Chelsea 5.7 3 Liverpool 5.7 5 Man City 6.1 16 Man Utd 8.8 17 Tottenham 9.5 Across those two seasons Arsenal scored a goal every seventh chance. At that rate they would have scored no more than 18 goals this season. In other words, Wengers side have already scored six more goals than their previous finishing record would have suggested.Arsenals shot conversion rate this season is 14.4 per cent. Again, its a good sign. Leicester had the best rate last season and Chelsea had the best the year before that. Both won the title. But neither topped 13.0 per cent. A dip seems inevitable and that could be an issue. Arsenal conversion rates Season Goals per game Conversion rate 2010/11 1.89 11.0% 2011/12 1.95 11.6% 2012/13 1.89 12.4% 2013/14 1.79 13.8% 2014/15 1.87 11.6% 2015/16 1.71 11.4% 2016/17 2.18 14.4% The reason is that some of Arsenals other underlying numbers are not so impressive. They rank seventh for shots and eighth for shots on target. They are sixth for clear-cut chances created and, unusually for the Gunners, as low as eighth for total chances created.In this sense, they have gone backwards. Arsenal were the only team to create more clear-cut chances than Leicester last season and were joint-top alongside Chelsea the year before. Arsenals dip in creativity 2015/16 rank 2016/17 rank Total shots 4th 7th Shots on target 2nd 8th Chances created 4th 8th Clear chances created 1st 6th Back then Wenger would praise his players for creating chances and bemoan his teams luck. Now, when scoring late goals against Southampton and Watford, its a new line. When Theo Walcott scored twice at Hull, Wenger said: Hes efficient and thats what you want.Thats a big change as Walcott had the worst clear-chance conversion rate of any player who regularly found himself in such positions last season. He converted only four of 15 opportunities that hed be reasonably expected to score according to Opta. Along with Theo Walcott, Oliver Giroud and Alexis Sanchez were two of the 12 players to miss 10+ clear chances last season Walcott and Olivier Giroud were seen as the chief culprits when it came to Arsenals wastefulness but no one man was responsible. Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey also ranked among the 20 Premier League players who missed eight clear chances or more.Arsenal missed more big chances than any other Premier League team last season and that wasnt all down to the huge volume of opportunities they were creating. They had the worst conversion rate of any top-half team too. But at least they were creating the chances. Highlights of Arsenals 1-1 draw with Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal fans wont be too worried just yet if the goals keep coming. But with Santi Cazorla missing, the side has lost a little something from deep. Alex Iwobi, meanwhile, has made a fine start but appears to be a knitter of play rather than a man to open defences on his own. Two shots on target in 565 minutes tells a tale.Against Tottenham last time out, Arsenal had plenty of endeavour but their trademark craft was absent after the frenzy of the first half. We couldnt find the creativity, the fluency around the box and all the things we are used to, said Wenger of that performance. Man Utd vs Arsenal November 19, 2016, 11:30am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Victory at Manchester United on Saturday would see Arsenal briefly go top of the Premier League nevertheless. Its precisely the sort of game where the efficiency theyve been showing would be ideal - an occasion where one chance could be the difference.But if the Gunners are to stay at the top of the table theyll need more than efficiency. Theyll need to up their creativity levels and their shot volumes too. Because history suggests that the current numbers are just not sustainable.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: Giroud: No worries over future Wenger v Mourinho in quotes Leon Jacobs Jersey . 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DENVER -- Welcome back to Raiders-Broncos, a rivalry thats lost some of its luster in recent years.Now, both teams are 6-2 and headed for a showdown next weekend with the AFC West lead on the line.You have to go all the way back to Week 16 of 2002 to find the last time these old AFL foes had this much at stake in a game against one another.The Raiders won that one, 28-16, ending Denvers hopes of taking the division, sending Brian Griese to the bench, Steve Beuerlein to the huddle and the Broncos on an offseason quarterback quest that ended with Jake Plummer under center in Denver.The Broncos and Raiders both stayed a step ahead of Kansas City (5-2) on Sunday in the NFLs top division.Oakland overcame 23 penalties to beat Tampa Bay 30-24 in overtime. Then, Denver beat San Diego 27-19 by hitting Philip Rivers 17 times, batting down 13 of his passes, picking off three other throws and sacking him four times.Thats the type of defense that we play, said Von Miller, who had a sack, along with Jared Crick, Justin Simmons and T.J. Ward. Theres enough to go around for everybody. Its great on our team. No one is waiting around for somebody else to make a play. Were all out there trying to make a play from left corner to right corner and everybody in between.We feel like the next play is our chance to make a play for our team and that type of mentality really drives the type of style that we play on defense.Rivers took solace in this as he left: We split with the Denver Broncos this year.And thats saying something.Other takeaways from Denvers win that avenged a 21-13 loss at San Diego 17 days earlier:GROUNDED GROUND GAME: Rookie Devontae Bookers first NFL start was a mixed bag: a 3-yard TD run and a fumble at the 2 to go with just 54 yards on 19 carries (2.8-yard average per carry).It was non-existent, coach Gary Kubiak said of his run game just six days after it had produced 190 yards against Houston. We come out and go right down the field and look like a good, sharp football team and then we couldnt get out of our way about the next three or four series. Im disappointed. I know that we were missing C.J. today, but thats a done deal. We have to improve.Kapri Bibbs ran twice for 4 yards and Juwan Thompson ran once for a 1-yard TD.SAFETY DANCE: Ward and Darian Stewart both had interceptions on the day they were featured on the Broncos program .ddddddddddddI told him on the sidelines, `Stew, we both got picks and we was on the cover today. Weve got to be on the cover every week, Stewart said.Stewarts 25-yard interception return to the San Diego 10 set up Bookers 3-yard TD run. Ward picked off Rivers pass at the 30, spun around and made it to the Chargers 7.Ive been telling you dudes that Im a natural running back, Ward said. I just dont like getting hit.He was lamenting not getting in the end zone like Bradley Roby did on his 49-yard pick-6 in the first half, however, when Booker fumbled the ball away at the 2 moments later.DINGED DENVER: The Broncos were missing two defensive starters in linebacker Brandon Marshall (hamstring) and cornerback Aqib Talib (back) to start the game and lost cornerback Kayvon Webster to a hamstring injury.The Broncos also lost their defensive leader when coordinator Wade Phillips was taken to a hospital after getting knocked down during Robys return in the second quarter. He was released a couple of hours later and is expected back at work Monday.San Diego running back Melvin Gordon was blocked into the 69-year-old assistant by Miller, and Phillips was strapped to a backboard and carted off the field in a scary scene that concluded with him giving a thumbs-up on his way to the tunnel.With linebackers coach Reggie Herring taking over Denvers defensive calls, the Broncos had a goal-line stand in the closing minutes and picked off Rivers twice more in the second half.I got on the headset a couple of times and he told me shut the hell up, hes got it, said Kubiak, who gave Herring a game ball.BACKUP BACK UP: Cornerback Lorenzo Doss surrendered Travis Benjamins 14-yard touchdown catch and came down hard on his back. But he returned to the game and broke up Rivers fourth-down pass to tight end Hunter Henry in the closing minutes.OFF THE MARK: San Diego kicker Josh Lambo had a forgettable day by pushing a 45-yard field goal wide left just before halftime and watching Shaq Barrett block an extra point in the third quarter.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic China NFL Jerseys White Cheap NFL T-shirts ' ' '