Meet the Pass That Explains the 2023-24 Premier League Season

What’s the best way to score a goal?

I wrote about pullbacks:

It's just way harder to complete a through-ball than it used to be. But if that's true and teams aren't pushing their fullbacks forward to get around the outside of the back line or stretch the opposition horizontally, then how the heck do you create quality goal-scoring opportunities? Set pieces are one way, but from open play, the answer is the pullback.

Rather than having a fullback like [Jordi] Alba play the pullback, it's almost always a traditional winger breaking toward the end line and then cutting the ball back against the defense's momentum these days. There's only one fullback, Tottenham's Destiny Udogie, in the top 10 for pullbacks attempted this season. Unsurprisingly, the list is led by both of Arsenal's wingers, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

Happy Tuesday to everyone who isn’t an Indiana Pacers fan.