Arsenal have presided over the meanest defence in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons, but it has never been quite enough to deliver the ultimate prize.
Mikel Arteta has built his Arsenal team, first and foremost, on solid foundations, reminiscent of the two great Gunners sides assembled by Arsène Wenger during the first half of his 22-year reign in north London—and much less so in the second half.
In search of a first Premier League title since Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ in 2003–04, now shockingly more than two decades ago and the club’s longest such drought since their most recent promotion in 1919, Arsenal have turned it up even more when it comes to shutting teams out.
dark. FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC
The Gunners sit top of the Premier League table after eight games, just shy of a quarter of the way through 2025–26 already. Aside from winning six of those fixtures, thereby dropping only five points from the 24 on offer so far, what’s striking is the goals conceded column.
Manchester City (17) and Chelsea (16) have marginally outscored Arsenal (15), while Liverpool, Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur have netted just once less often. But the Gunners are unrivalled when it comes to letting them in, or keeping them out as is more accurate.
So far, Arsenal’s backline has been breached just three times in the league. It’s an average of 0.375 per game, a better number than two of the all-time great defensive teams in English football.
Highlighted by The Times, Liverpool’s record of fewest goals conceded over the course of an English league season (16 in 42 games, 1978–79) averages at 0.381 per game. In the Premier League era, Chelsea’s record of 15 goals conceded in 38 games in 2004–05 remains unbroken—that’s 0.395.
Arsenal still have 30 Premier League fixtures to play this season, but both records are under threat.
Arteta has had a preferred quartet of Jurriën Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori, but it hasn’t always been possible to select all four in every game, speaking to an overall defensive philosophy that allows replacements like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Cristhian Mosquera to effectively plug and play without the team experiencing a drop in defensive performance.
|
Team |
Conceded |
Season |
|---|---|---|
|
Chelsea |
15 |
2004–05 |
|
Arsenal |
17 |
1998–99 |
|
Chelsea |
22 |
2005–06 |
|
Man Utd |
22 |
2007–08 |
|
Liverpool |
22 |
2008–09 |
|
Man City |
23 |
2018–19 |
|
Chelsea |
24 |
2008–09 |
|
Man Utd |
24 |
2008–09 |
|
Chelsea |
24 |
2006–07 |
|
Liverpool |
25 |
2005–06 |
