Why did Arsenal perform so badly in 2020/21?

Here I use some basic machine learning techniques with 2020/21 English Premier League (EPL) data to try to get to the bottom of Arsenal’s poor Premier League campaign.

Introduction

To say that Arsenal FC have underachieved in the last two EPL campaigns would be to play down the situation. The truth is, for a very long time the club has failed to reach the levels it was once performing at and their position in the league table has been on a decline since 2018, when the Wenger era came to an end. In the last Premier League season, Arsenal finished in 8th place, their worst placing since the 1993/94 season (only three years prior to the inception of the EPL as we now know it).

Although Arsenal hardly have the squad depth and quality they once had, it is hard to argue that they have the 8th best team in the EPL, which brings both tactics and performance on the pitch into question. Of course, the nature of the transitionary period Arsenal find themselves in (as well as other confounding variables) will have played a part in Arsenal’s dip in recent years. However, there is an undeniable feeling that things just aren’t clicking on the pitch, despite the club having some relatively decent players.

Being both a data scientist and an Arsenal fan, I thought I would take on the task of trying to…