Arsenal · 2025/26
Mikel Merino
Mikel Merino ranks 14th of 398 qualified players for attacking involvement, shooting from 13.2m on average, with 35% of their danger coming from set pieces. They carry 6% of Arsenal’s attacking output, the 6th largest share in the squad.
This week
Next fixture
Gameweek 2away to Aston Villa
Mon 31 Aug, 19:00 UTC
Aston Villa concede 13.0 shots a match and are 0.91× the league norm against forwards. Roughly an average matchup.
- Projected shots
- 1.92
- Projected on target
- 0.75
1.98 per 90 × 0.97
0.72 per 90 × 1.05
Season rate multiplied by what this opponent concedes relative to the league. It assumes a full ninety minutes and takes no account of rotation, so check availability before reading anything into it.
Shots
22 appearances- Over 0.559%± 10
- Over 1.527%± 9
- Over 2.514%± 7
- Over 3.50%± 0
Share of appearances clearing each line, with one standard error. Blank appearances count as misses, 9 of 22 here, so these are lower, and more honest, than rates built only from matches where the player got a shot away.
Shots on target
22 appearances- Over 0.527%± 9
- Over 1.59%± 6
- Over 2.50%± 0
Share of appearances clearing each line, with one standard error. Blank appearances count as misses, 9 of 22 here, so these are lower, and more honest, than rates built only from matches where the player got a shot away.
Where the shots come from
Where they shoot
22 shotsMikel Merino, 2025/26 · final 35m. A further 5% of their shots came from outside this window.
- left
- 6%
- Centre
- 62%
- right
- 32%
share of their shooting xG
Chance quality
xG per shot, distance, how they arrive- xG per shot
- 0.237
- Shots per 90
- 1.98
- Key passes per 90
- 1.08
- Average shot distance
- 13.2m
- From set pieces
- 35%
How their chances arrive
- Crosses
- 0%
- Through balls
- 0%
- Own dribble
- 0%
- Headed
- 30%
What they are for
Roles
penalties, set pieces, crossing, partnerships- When it mattered4 of 4 goals came with the game level or Arsenal behind.
- On the pitch29% of the minutes available to them.
Partnerships
- Feeds Gabriel Jesus1 shot, 0.88 xG
- Feeds Bukayo Saka2 shots, 0.47 xG
- Fed by Kai Havertz1 shot, 0.67 xG
- Fed by Bukayo Saka3 shots, 0.61 xG
A share of the attack says how much runs through Mikel Merino. These say what would have to be replaced. Losing the penalty taker or the corner deliverer is not the same as losing a proportional slice of output, and a partnership cuts both ways: the supplier being absent damages the finisher’s numbers too.
Who they play with
Chances received
who supplies them- Kai Havertz0.7 xG1 shot · 0g
- Bukayo Saka0.6 xG3 shots · 1g
- Ben White0.4 xG1 shot · 1g
- Declan Rice0.4 xG3 shots · 1g
- Leandro Trossard0.1 xG1 shot · 0g
Chances created
who they supply- Gabriel Jesus0.9 xG1 shot · 0g
- Bukayo Saka0.5 xG2 shots · 2g
- Leandro Trossard0.4 xG2 shots · 1g
- Martín Zubimendi0.2 xG1 shot · 0g
- Ethan Nwaneri0.1 xG1 shot · 0g
Season record
Involvement in build-up
excludes their own shots and final passesMikel Merino carries 3.0% of Arsenal’s build-up value.
- Build-up per 900.34289% of forwards
- Possession value per 900.75284% of forwards
Ranked against 109 forwards with a comparable sample. Build-up is the value of possessions a player was involved in with their own shots and final passes removed, so it credits the work before the chance. It is a possession-value measure rather than a passing one: it cannot tell a forty-yard carry from two sideways balls, because no pass or carry record exists in this data.
Tackles, blocks and recoveries
per 90 · 2025/26They account for 3.7% of their club’s recorded defensive work.
- Tackles2.2973% of MID
- Blocks, clearances, interceptions2.6470% of MID
- Recoveries5.0174% of MID
- Defensive contribution9.9373% of MID
Rates from 1,024 minutes, ranked against 149 midfielders with a comparable sample. The feed publishes season totals rather than a match-by-match record, so there is no hit rate against a line here. That needs the distribution, which no arithmetic on a total can recover. This statistic begins in 2025/26, so there is no earlier season to compare against.
Match log
most recent first- 1 shot0 OTat Crystal Palace
- 3 shots2 OTvs Manchester United1g
- 1 shot0 OTat Nottingham Forest
- 2 shots1 OTat Bournemouth
- 2 shots0 OTvs Brighton
- 1 shot0 OTvs Wolverhampton Wanderers
- 3 shots1 OTvs Brentford1g
- 3 shots2 OTat Chelsea1g
- 1 shot0 OTvs Tottenham
- 1 shot0 OTat Sunderland
Solid marks are on target, faded ones off. 9 further appearances produced no shot and are not listed, but are counted in the rates above.