by Tony Attwood
It is not just winning. It is not just winning without conceding a goal. It is not just having the best defence in the league – ok equal with Palace and we can’t bemoan them after they trounced Manchester Money to win the FA Cup. And indeed, maybe even feel a trifle sorry for them having to play in the Conference League because their owner has another club in the Europa (or something like that).
It’s not just all that, it is that with a bit of luck, all those nerds who said Arteta ought to be sacked for coming second three times running without winning anything have hopefully gone somewhere else (supporting Nottingham Forest maybe, where some |”fans” are demanding Postecoglou should go after 23 days following a European defeat).
And the fact is that Manchester City, so dominant for so long, are now seventh in the league, and Arsenal are second and have even the journalists (yes EVEN THE JOURNALISTS) finally admitting this is quite a team.
And yes, I know I am repeating myself, but really the raving anti-Arsenal negativity of the media has been getting to me a bit, and all that anti-factual pro-Oly stuff for was the final camel that took the horse to water (or something like that; I may have got my old wife’s tale a bit confiscated in my recent excitement.)
Another Arsenal game, another clean sheet. And while fans who follow pundits wonder how Arsenal have done this, let me help them out. Arsenal have played nine, won seven, drawn and lost one each. 18 goals have been scored, which by using my fingers I reckon is two a game. Against Arsenal, three goals have been scored. So working slowly (for the benefit of journalists) that gives us +15 overall in the universal goal difference chart.
Liverpool have beaten Arsenal by one goal. Manchester City held on to a 1-1 draw. Otherwise, we win games. In the entire history of the Premier League only two clubs have beaten Arsenal more than Arsenal have beaten them. And yes, of course, I would prefer it if that number was zero, but even so, it’s not bad. Those two clubs are of course, (as you will have guessed) Liverpool, who have beaten us 26 times, to our 18 wins, and Manchester Un, who have also beaten Arsenal 26 times, against 22 Arsenal wins in the Premier League. Given the way things are, in another few seasons, it will only be Liverpool who have done it, and then we focus on year after year of bringing them to heel.
And while we are at it, here’s another stat to relish. In nine games, Arsenal have conceded three goals. So here’s a league table of the clubs we tend to feel are in one way or another rivals, but based on goals conceded this season in the league so far.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 13 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 15 | Newcastle United | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 6 |
| 7 | Manchester City | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 8 |
| 14 | Manchester United | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 7 |
So as a final reminder, across nine competitive matches this season, Arsenal have conceded just three goals. The only teams to score against them are fellow Champions League clubs: Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United. The nine games have yielded six clean sheets. But there is more because we can also do a table based on goal difference, where the numbers decline quite quickly.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 13 |
| 7 | Manchester City | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 15 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | Sunderland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | AFC Bournemouth | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 11 |
Thus, so far Arsenal have let in one goal from open play in all their games, (that scored by the Haaland character who quite possibly has had some sort of genetic modification to allow him to do this). (That’s a wry comment; I don’t mean it literally and it is not intended to offend his parents).
Here’s another one. Arsenal have played nine games so far in the league and cups.
They have conceded three goals in total – all in the league. And the fact that I mention WHAM having conceded 14 in the league is because we play them next.
