Expected Goals is widely agreed to be the best way of measuring how well Premier League clubs play in any particular game.
To get a better look at how sides are doing, the Expected Goals (xG) metric allows you to get a better picture of just how teams are performing.
Expected goals (xG) is a statistic used to work out how many goals should be scored in a match.
With every single shot awarded an xG value based on the difficulty of the attempt, with factors including distance from goal, type of shot and number of defenders present affecting the value.
The higher the xG of a particular shot, the more likely a goal should be scored from that shot.
The xG value of every shot in a game is then used to calculate the expected goals in a particular match.
So rather than just the usual basic statistics of how many shots each team has, Expected Goals factors in where shots were taken from and how good a chance was and whether defenders in the way etc.
These Expected Goals stats from Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0:
Arsenal 0.64 Newcastle United 0.91
As you can see, Newcastle’s Expected Goals stat clearly higher than Arsenal’s.
Eze’s goal was an excellent strike from distance and the only other shot of note from Arsenal, was another long range effort that Pope was always saving.
Newcastle had the clearest chance of all when late on Wissa had just Raya to beat but his volley cleared the bar from around 12 yards out after Woltemade’s clipped it over the defender for Wissa to run onto. Tonali very unlucky to see his excellent swerving long range shot brilliantly saved by the Arsenal keeper. Whilst in the first minute William Osula had just Raya to beat but missed his kick.
The other stats back up the fact that on the team performances overall, Newcastle deserved a draw.
United with more possession (55% v 45%) and more shots (13 v 11). Whilst efforts on target (Arsenal 4 Newcastle 3) and touches in the opposition penalty area (Arsenal 27 Newcastle 19) were also close.
Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 25 April 2026 5.30pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Arsenal:
Eze 9
Possession was Newcastle 55% Arsenal 45%
Total shots were Newcastle 13 Arsenal 11
Shots on target were Newcastle 3 Arsenal 4
Corners were Newcastle 2 Arsenal 7
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 19 Arsenal 27
Newcastle team v Arsenal:
Pope, Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Bruno (Woltemade 75), Tonali, Ramsey, Willock (Elanga 86), Jacob Murphy (Barnes 66), Osula (Wissa 66)
Unused subs:
Ramsdale, Trippier, Hall, Alex Murphy, Neave