Dimitar Berbatov labelled Arsenal the “new Stoke City” in a tongue-in-cheek moment after the Gunners beat Manchester United 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Speaking on a panel on Amazon Prime Video after the game between Arsenal and Manchester United on Wednesday, Dimitar Berbatov aimed a cheeky dig at the North London club. The former Manchester United and Tottenham striker called Mikel Arteta’s side the “new Stoke City” for relying on set pieces for goals.
The Manchester United icon said, “Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where you have so many players around the goalkeeper, pushing, shoving, making chaos. Normally it is going to be a foul.”
“Not here. You need to be strong. And that’s probably why he (Ruben Amorim) was watching from the side, he was like, ‘What is going on with my keeper?’ You need to work on that. As we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right? Depending on set-pieces, which can give you the win, as it was today.”
While Berbatov had a tongue-in-cheek moment with his comments, the Manchester United and Tottenham icon was not far off in his assessment regarding Arsenal’s reliance on set pieces to score goals. Both strikes against Manchester United came from a similar situation, with Jurrien Timber and William Saliba scoring from corners.
Those goals helped Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0, with the Red Devils failing to cope with the home side’s impressive set-piece strategy. Interestingly, these strikes came without Gabriel Magalhaes, who has found the back of the net thrice from corners this season for Arsenal.
Berbatov has a point, considering the Gunners have scored 22 goals from set-piece situations since the start of the 2023/24 season, more than any other team in the Premier League. Set-piece proficiency was a feature of the Stoke City side under Tony Pulis, with Rory Delap’s trademark long throws an additional weapon in the Potters’ arsenal.
With clubs still deciphering methods to neutralise Arsenal’s set-piece threat, the Gunners will remain the most potent team from corners and indirect free-kicks. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta will hope his team can continue the momentum after closing the gap to Liverpool to seven points with Wednesday’s result.