Eberechi Eze scored a historic hat-trick in his first north London derby on Sunday, continuing his fine start to life at Arsenal.
If there was one concern Arsenal might have had heading into the weekend’s north London derby, it would have been the absence of key centre-back Gabriel Magalhães – and not just for his defensive capabilities.
He is a big part of why Mikel Arteta’s side have one of the best defences in Premier League history, on course to concede just 19 goals across the whole season at their current rate. But he is also a major part of their goal threat, too, as one of the game’s most dangerous players at attacking set-pieces.
Without him, there might have been some reason to worry that Arsenal could struggle to break Tottenham down. Spurs set up at the Emirates with a five-man defence for the first time in 18 games, last doing so in the UEFA Super Cup against PSG in August. Their game plan was, first and foremost, about shutting Arsenal down.
Arsenal haven’t exactly been poor in open play this season, but a few questions have been asked as to whether they rely too heavily on dead balls. After all, it was only through set-piece goals that they secured single-goal victories over Newcastle, Fulham and Crystal Palace in the past couple of months. Against an obdurate Tottenham, who came into the weekend with the third-best defensive record in the Premier League this season, and with no fit recognised centre-forward and key creator Martin Ødegaard also out injured, Arsenal were facing a tough test.
As it turns out, there was no need to worry, and the main reason for that was Eberechi Eze.
The midfielder, who came close to joining Tottenham in the summer but ended up choosing his boyhood club, starred in a resounding and one-sided 4-1 victory – Arsenal’s joint-biggest margin of victory over their rivals in a Premier League game, and their biggest since November 2012 (a 5-2 win).
All four Arsenal goals came in open play, with Eze scoring the first hat-trick in a north London derby in Premier League history.
Having only joined in the summer, Eze has already ensured his place as an Arsenal legend, but more importantly in the context of his new side’s hopes for winning a first Premier League title in two decades, he is making significant contributions on the pitch. On Sunday, he proved he can play a big role in solving any issues Arsenal have in open play.
Eze had twice as many shots (six) as any other player in the game, and twice as many as all of Spurs’ players managed between them, with his 0.66 xG almost 10 times the amount Tottenham accumulated (0.07 xG). He also created one chance, and it very nearly, and probably should have, resulted in a goal when he slipped Declan Rice in behind the Tottenham defence with a delightfully weighted scoop with the game goalless.
Eberechi Eze shot map v Spurs
He’s a man in sensational form. In 2025, only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23) and Bryan Mbeumo (21) have been involved in more Premier League goals than him (18 – 10 goals, 8 assists), a record that spans the end of his time at Crystal Palace and the start of his Arsenal career.
The fact he is playing in a new team makes his impact even more impressive. He was already up to speed with the Premier League – and as the previous stat shows, he was clearly already playing very well – but the challenges that come with adapting to a new environment and being tasked with playing for a team in the title race should not be underestimated. Nor should the increased workload with playing the first European campaign of his career.
He started only one of Arsenal’s first five Premier League matches of the season but has quickly become a key member of the team. In their fifth match, he was called upon from the bench at half-time with his side trailing 1-0 to Manchester City, before coming up with the assist for Gabriel Martinelli’s late equaliser.
Despite playing 797 of a possible 1,080 minutes in the Premier League this season, Eze has had more shots (25) than any other Arsenal player. He ranks sixth in the whole Premier League for non-pen goal involvements, both overall (six) and on a per-90 basis (0.68) of players to play at least 500 minutes.
As was the case on Sunday and for that assist against City, many of his best, biggest and most important contributions have come in open play. Enzo Fernández (4.0) and Morgan Gibbs-White (2.3) are the only non-forwards/wingers ahead of Eze for open-play xG this season (1.9), but Eze has played at least 175 minutes less than either of them. And, as mentioned, he has done it while settling into a new team – and one who have had some issues with open-play chance creation.
Eberechi Eze xg for Arsenal
He is also among the top 25 in the league for expected assists from open play (1.3 xA), too. Combine them, and only Enzo (5.4) is ahead of him (3.2) among the same group of non-forwards/wingers.
Sunday’s game could not have gone any better for Eze. An Arsenal fan growing up, he was playing in his first north London derby and he was the best player on the pitch as he scored an unprecedented hat-trick.
But for Arsenal, this was more than just a hugely enjoyable derby-day victory. This was a display that dispelled any lingering worries about one potential, yet ever-so-slight, perceived weakness.
And Eze was the key to it all.
Premier League Stats Opta
Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over onX, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.******