Arsenal attacker Mesut Ozil only has two assists this year.
For a player with a reputation as an ‘assist king’, Arsenal attacker Mesut Ozil will be very disappointed with his output this season.
The 2014 World Cup winner only has two assists this whole season in the Premier League, and he can no longer blame a lack of game time either.
Ozil has started 18 Premier League games for the Gunners, which makes his return look even worse.
Yet a closer look suggests Ozil is not necessarily undergoing a huge decline.
In fact it is more likely Ozil’s low number of assists is down to his teammates failing to take chances.
Whoscored.com data shows Ozil ranks 9th in the Premier League this season when it comes to key passes.
He created an average of 2.1 chances per game, which is only bettered by Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Emiliano Buendia, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Pascal Gross, Lucas Digne and Joao Moutinho.
To rank in the top 10 in the league is good going for any player, especially one like Ozil who began the season benched by former boss Unai Emery, and considering he had off field issues after being victim of an attempted robbery.
Ozil is doing his job in terms of creating chances, he just needs Arsenal’s forwards to start scoring them, and make him look a bit better.
Only scoring one goal himself does little favours, but this has never been his strong point.
Perhaps when the season eventually resumes Ozil will have some better luck. He’s putting the work in, even if his assist figures don’t show it.
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