This is the Premier League title race that we will never hear the end of. Honestly, if Arsenal beat PSG next week we could get a Kai Havertz statue outside the Emirates.
To be fair, Arsenal fans have probably earned this after 22 years without a title. They went through a bleak austerity period in the late-Wenger years, with the Frenchman acting more like an accountant as they navigated the move to their swanky new stadium. Emery came and went and Arteta inherited a bit of a mess. And that early FA Cup victory aside, things didn’t start too well for Guardiola’s protégé. But the Arsenal hierarchy persisted with Arteta and he slowly started to chip away the excess fat, creating a side that could compete on both the domestic and European fronts. They have been gun-shy near the finishing line in recent years, roundly mocked as bottlers despite the Arteta renaissance. Not anymore.
In honour of Wenger’s accounting fixation, I have decided to dive into some of the key numbers behind Arsenal’s title-winning success. I have narrowed all the statistical information down to five key figures that tell you everything you need to know about Arteta’s title-winning unit.
Sidenote: All these stats are subject to change, with Arsenal travelling to Palace for the last game of the season.
0.74- Expected goals per game
I’m not usually one who puts too much stock into xG (it sometimes ignores the more intangible elements of the game). But I think xG over the course of a season will tap into underlying patterns. Arsenal have allowed chances worth only 0.74 expected goals per game this season, the 4th lowest recorded since Opta began crunching the numbers back in 2012/2013. This stat tells you all you need to know about Arteta’s defence-orientated approach. The Gunners have conceded just 26 goals this season, their fewest since the 98/99 season (17). The team that Arteta’s side reminds me of the most is Mourinho’s 04/05 Chelsea winnings squad. Both teams were built on defensive pragmatism, and the goals were divvied up amongst everyone (including defenders).
18- Goals scored from corners this season
With their new-found obsession with set-piece stylistics, Arsenal have occasionally resembled Tony Pulis’ Stoke City. They have scored an eye-watering 28 goals from set-pieces this season, using Declan Rice’s metronomic delivery as the fulcrum of their attack. But it’s specifically their goals from corners that defy belief. The Gunners have scored 18 goals from corners this year, breaking the old Premier League record set by Oldham Athletic in 1992/1993.
53- Points against bottom-half teams
This has been a complete inversion of recent seasons. Since the start of the 2022/2023 campaign, no team has taken more points (76) against ‘big-six’ rivals than Arsenal. The real banana peels tended to come against ‘inferior’ opposition, who would frustrate the Gunners with low blocks and quick counters. Arsenal have transformed into proverbial flat track bullies this year, amassing 53 points against all the sides currently in the bottom half of the table. They have exploded the myth that you need to perform well in the so-called ‘title-deciders’, collecting just two points across four Premier League matches against City and Liverpool.
14- Viktor Gyorkeres’ goal tally for the Premier League season
I’m not trying to cast any aspersions on Gyokeres here. The marquee summer signing has came into his own as the season progressed, becoming an integral part of Arteta’s lineup (though Havertz’s return does raise the prospect of Arteta reverting to type). 14 league goals is not bad going for a player adapting to the pace of the league. However, it is an extremely low number for the top scorer of a title-winning side. Only two Premier League champs have previously had a top scorer with less goals: Lampard scored 13 for the 04/05 Chelsea side, and Gundogan scored 13 for City in 20/21. If Gyokeres scores in their final game at Palace, he will surpass Cantona’s tally of 14 in the 94/95 title-winning run. This is a perfect distillation of Arteta’s more defence-orientated approach, which emphasizes a more holistic attitude towards goal-scoring.
0- The number of red cards and penalties conceded this campaign
It took me some time to believe this statistic. A friend mentioned it to me, and I automatically went into full Google PI mode to disprove his insane claim. But he was correct: Arsenal have not conceded a red card or a penalty or season. That has never happened before in the history of the Premier League. I find it particularly befuddling considering Arsenal’s new pugilistic approach. One would think that a side built around set-pieces and defensive domination would have experienced the occasional lapse in discipline (especially defending so many slender leads).
The conspiratorial anti-Arteta wing would say that Arsenal have benefitted from some soft referring this season. And to be honest; they are probably right. The kidology and thuggish antics of Gabriel have gone unpunished all season (just look at that headbutt situation with Haaland). Havertz should have been sent off against Burnley and Raya has escaped punishment for several undignified clear-outs. In the latter Wenger days, Arsenal were considered something of a soft touch. This seeped into their subsequent squads (Troy Deeney famously lambasted them for lacking cojones). Arteta has returned the ethos of the club to the early Wenger era, where players imposed themselves and tried to ride the line between legality and illegality. I would say they have judged it rather perfectly this season.
