+0.81goals above what the league converts the same chances into
Build-up per 90
0.334% of Arsenal’s build-up value
league 0.27
Mikel Merino ranks 57th of 397 qualified players for attacking involvement, shooting from 11.3m on average, with 44% of their danger coming from set pieces. They carry 7% of Arsenal’s attacking involvement, the 8th largest share in the squad.
Against their position
104 forwards
Shooting
per 90
Goals
0.4070th
Non-penalty goals
0.4075th
xG
0.3962nd
Non-penalty xG
0.3964th
Shots
2.1747th
npxG per shot
0.1877th
Shot distance
11.3m96th
Set-piece share
44%97th
Goals against xG
+0.171st
2 figures here come from match-event data, which is not recorded for 2024/25.
Creating
per 90
Assists
0.1139th
Expected assists
0.1237th
Key passes
0.9741st
npxG + xA
0.5254th
xG chain
0.6355th
xG build-up
0.3388th
Assists against xA
-0.251st
On the ball
per 90
6 figures here come from match-event data, which is not recorded for 2024/25.
Defending
per 90
7 figures here come from match-event data, which is not recorded for 2024/25.
Discipline
per 90
Yellow cards
2season count
Red cards
1season count
3 figures here come from match-event data, which is not recorded for 2024/25.
Ranked against 104 forwards with half a match a round or more, the same comparison the compare page makes. Where less is better, such as being dispossessed, the order is turned round, so a high percentile is always the good end.
This week
Gameweek 7
Next fixture
Gameweek 7
away toNottingham Forest
Sun 18 Oct, 15:30 UTC
Nottingham Forest concede 14.0 shots a match and are 1.07× the league norm against forwards. Roughly an average matchup.
Projected shots
2.33
2.17 per 90 × 1.07
Projected on target
0.67
0.68 per 90 × 0.98
Season rate times what this opponent concedes, over a full ninety minutes. Check availability.
Shots
28 appearances
Over 0.522 of 2879%± 8
Over 1.513 of 2846%± 9
Over 2.53 of 2811%± 6
Over 3.50 of 280%± 0
The band is one standard error, the tick the estimate. Blanks count as misses, 6 of 28.
GoalNo goalMark area is the chance’s expected goals
Mikel Merino, 2024/25, 38 shots in the final 35m, 7 scored.
left
15%
Centre
58%
right
27%
share of their shooting xG
Chance profile
quality, volume and route
xG per shot
0.181
Shots per 90
2.17
Key passes per 90
0.97
Average shot distance
11.3m
From set pieces
44%
How the chances arrive
Crosses
33%
Through balls
10%
Own dribble
3%
Headed
40%
Club role
Arsenal
What they are for
When it mattered6 of 7 goals came with the game level or Arsenal behind.
On the pitch46% of available minutes.
What would actually have to be replaced. Losing the penalty taker is not the same as losing a proportional slice of Mikel Merino’soutput.
Chances received
who supplies them
Declan Rice1.2 xG5 shots, 1g
Leandro Trossard1.0 xG3 shots, 1g
Bukayo Saka0.8 xG4 shots, 0g
Thomas Partey0.7 xG4 shots, 0g
Ethan Nwaneri0.6 xG3 shots, 2g
Chances created
who they supply
Gabriel Martinelli1.2 xG4 shots, 1g
Ethan Nwaneri0.3 xG1 shot, 1g
Martin Odegaard0.1 xG2 shots, 0g
William Saliba0.1 xG1 shot, 0g
Bukayo Saka0.1 xG2 shots, 0g
Season record
2024/25
Involvement in build-up
excludes their own shots and final passes
Mikel Merino carries 4.3%of Arsenal’s build-up value.
Build-up per 900.329
88% of forwards
Possession value per 900.628
55% of forwards
Ranked against 104 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 rather than the chance.
Match by match
Match log
28 appearances, oldest first
over 1.5
at Bournemouth1 shot 0 on target
1g
v Liverpool2 shots 1 on target
at Newcastle2 shots 0 on target
at Chelsea1 shot 1 on target
v Forest1 shot 0 on target
v Man Utd1 shot 0 on target
v Everton1 shot 1 on target
v Ipswich1 shot 1 on target
1g
at Brentford2 shots 1 on target
at Brighton1 shot 0 on target
v Villa3 shots 0 on target
2g
at Leicester2 shots 2 on target
v West Ham2 shots 0 on target
at Forest2 shots 1 on target
at Man Utd1 shot 0 on target
1g
v Chelsea2 shots 2 on target
1g
v Fulham2 shots 1 on target
at Everton2 shots 0 on target
v Brentford1 shot 0 on target
at Ipswich2 shots 0 on target
1g
at Liverpool3 shots 1 on target
at Southampton3 shots 0 on target
6 blanksno shot not placed
Height is shots, solid is on target, and the dashed rule is the 1.5 line. The feed cannot date an appearance with no shot in it, so 6 sits at the end, counted but unplaced.
How to read the ties. Each rate ties back to the league average: solid where the sample is settled, broken where it is still being shrunk toward the league, an open circle where there is no cohort to rank against.
