STATS: Arsenal defender an unsung hero in North London derby success against Spurs

Attacking duo Caitlin Foord and Vivianne Miedema grabbed the headlines as Arsenal defeated North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 6-1 at Meadow Park in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League yesterday.

In the case of Miedema, the player netted a hat-trick which included a record-breaking 50th goal in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League, the first player to achieve that feat.

When your side wins a game 6-1 a defender is not usually a player to shine above all others, however, in the case of Arsenal’s Leah Williamson, the statistics show that she was certainly a driving force behind The Gunners’ derby day success.

Williamson enjoyed 124 touches of the ball in the North London derby, 26 more than fellow centre-back Jen Beattie while she also produced the most successful tackles (3) and completed one interception, Malin Gut was the only other Arsenal player to intercept.

The England international attempted more passes than any other Arsenal player (118) while 108 of those passes met the intended recipient. Williamson’s pass completion rate of 91.5% was bettered by youngster Ruby Mace (93.8%) and Beattie (96.7%), although it must be noted that the 23-year-old attempted more passes than both players with teenager Mace only being on the field for 13 minutes.

Williamson’s most impressive statistics come from distance travelled both with the ball and taking into account ball distribution. The defender completed 83 carries of the ball, travelling 201 yards in total with the ball at her feet. Viktoria Schnaderbeck was the next most progressive Arsenal player with the ball, travelling 123 yards. When distributing the ball, Williamson’s passes accounted to a total of 835 yards travelled, 273 yards more than teammate Beattie’s passes which was the next highest tally.

To top off what can only be described as a driving performance from Williamson, she created three shooting chances for her teammates and was involved in two of Arsenal’s goals, providing a direct assist for Foord’s first goal.

It was a performance of sheer class from Williamson who will undoubtedly let the plaudits fall at the other end of the pitch if that means that her side continue to take this season’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League by storm.

Statistics: FBREF

About The Author

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of the WSL Full-Time brand which I launched in 2018.

I am an accredited journalist with the FWA, SJA and AIPS. I have reported from various levels of men’s and women’s elite football since 2016.

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