Arsenal’s defence is proving hard to breachpublished at 14:52 BST 20 October
While Liverpool’s defence is currently porous, Arsenal’s appears increasingly impenetrable.
The Gunners’ 1-0 win over
Fulham was built on an eighth clean sheet in 11 matches in all competitions this
season.
The only goals the league
leaders have conceded have been via a 30-yard thunderbolt from Liverpool’s Dominik
Szoboszlai, one from unstoppable Manchester City forward Erling Haaland and a
header by in-form Nick Woltemade at a raucous St James’ Park. Only Haaland’s
came from open play.
In comparison, Liverpool have
let in 17 goals and kept only two clean sheets in their 12 fixtures.
Arsenal are not just stopping
sides scoring, they are denying them as much as a sniff at goal. For the first
time since November 2003, during what turned out to be their Invincibles
campaign, Arteta’s team have not faced a
shot on target in back-to-back league matches.
And they have given up just five
big chances in eight league matches this season. To put that in context, Manchester
United had five big chances to score at Anfield alone yesterday.
Remarkably, the last time
they conceded more than two league goals in a game was in December 2023 at
Luton Town.
Carry on like this and the likes of David Raya,
William Saliba and Gabriel will break Chelsea’s legendary record for the fewest
goals conceded in a Premier League season of just 15 in
2004-05.
