There has been a real difference in Arsenal’s style and how they have approached games on their pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Gunners scored 17 fewer goals than Liverpool last season and finished 10 points behind the champions in second place.
They struggled to break down teams that defended in low blocks, but against Spurs – and throughout pre-season – Mikel Arteta’s side have got the ball forward a lot quicker than they did last season.
Goalkeeper David Raya is kicking the ball long as much as he is playing it short.
Arsenal also seem to be shooting more – they registered 23 shots against AC Milan, 15 against Newcastle and, despite losing, had 16 shots against Tottenham.
Arteta is clearly hoping that getting the ball forward quickly and increasing the number of shots on goal will translate to the extra points they missed last season.
“I am very pleased with what I’ve seen in most of the things that we’ve done,” said Arteta. “But we miss something in certain moments.
“That preciseness, that moment that unlocks the result, the moment to turn the result our way.”
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