Morning.
The Arsenal news is, as you’d expect, pretty thin, but if you’re looking for something to worry about later, here’s who’s in action today. Jurrien Timber could play for the Netherlands away to Malta in a World Cup qualifier, while our England contingent (Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Myles Lewis-Skelly) could feature in England’s friendly with Wales.
Christian Norgaard, a player who could certainly use some minutes after playing very little club football so far this season, will hopefully be part of the Danish team that is in Belarus for a World Cup qualifier, and as far as I know it is for today’s matches as well. My fingers are crossed that they will all come through unscathed and happy.
How about this for a statistic as a discussion point for today? From the official site:
We have done fantastic defensively, with only three goals coming into our net so far. That is the least we have conceded in ten games in a season in all competitions in our 138-year history.
We had a question on Arsecast Extra this week about the possibility of Arsenal beating Chelsea’s record, which stood at fifteen in 2004-05. That was the moment when their spending spelled the beginning of the end of all financial sanity in the Premier League, and Jose Mourinho’s evil and talent were at their peak. Arsenal finished second that season with 83 points and scored 87 goals – 15 more than Chelsea, but 36 goals conceded was the difference.
I think more often than not goals get you titles, but this time it was pure defensive parsimony. Obviously, every bit of Chelsea’s success comes with a huge Roman Abramovich-shaped asterisk, and I think the all-time lowest goals against count is one that will probably never be beaten. There is simply too much attacking talent in the Premier League, combined with a generation of brilliant coaches and managers whose tactical insight and awareness means that even so-called ‘mid-table’ clubs can cause you all kinds of problems.
This season, however, I suspect it will take a solid defensive/attacking combination to finish on top. Last season it was goals that won Liverpool. By scoring 86 to our 69, they were able to concede seven more than us in the 38 games to finish top. I would like us to be as productive in front of goal as we were in the 2023/24 season, scoring 91 goals (more than The Invincibles in that incredible season), but if our defensive solidity continues, that may not be necessary.
The best combination is obviously to score a lot and concede very little, and despite what some people may think, that is what Mikel Arteta wants. So far, only Manchester City have scored more goals this season, and if you look at their respective games, that’s not that bad. Arsenal have invested heavily in attack this summer to ensure we have the firepower, but have also strengthened the defensive ranks with the likes of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie, who we should see back in action after the Interlull. Add those guys to the incumbents, some of whom are literally among the best in the world at their positions, and all the ingredients are there.
I think I’m right in saying that Arsenal’s lowest ever goal tally in a modern top-flight season is the 18 when we won the First Division in 1990-91. A team that lost just once that season under George Graham, and that defeat came to Chelsea. If we come close to matching or beating that level, I think I could say pretty confidently that we’ll be there or close to that when it comes to the title. 31 more games, 31 clean sheets? Let’s do it.
Update: Thanks to Orbinho for the correction – “Hey, related to today’s blog, we only conceded seventeen goals in the 1998/99 Premier League and that’s our lowest total. I hope that helps.”
That’s right, thank you!
Finally for today, revisiting the possible expansion of the stadium, Andrew Allen looked at how this could happen, and also how the events at Benfica could give us some insight into how things could develop. Really interesting stuff on Arseblog News.
Okay, I’ll leave it at that for now. We’ll have an Arsecast for you a little later, which should be out before lunchtime, so until then, enjoy!
#Goals #defense #win #titles