Four clean sheets in five games - Have Arsenal's defence finally clicked into gear?
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 2 Oct 2021 20:21 BST
- 3 min read
Arsenal fans may struggle to find too many positives from their 0-0 draw with Brighton on Saturday evening but there was one notable plus point from the result: a clean sheet.
There’s no doubt that Mikel Arteta’s side were far from comfortable during the game due to the amount of chances created by their hosts - Brighton managed no less than 14 attempts on goal - but the Spanish coach will take confidence from the manner in which his defence dealt with waves of attacks.
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Arsenal may have been expected to claim all three points against a side like Brighton, but are there some signs that the London club may have finally sorted out their defence?
Keeping out the goals
After a poor start to the season which saw Arsenal lose three of their first four games of the season and concede no less than nine goals, the club have now gone five games in all competitions without conceding more than one goal.
Following a bitter 5-0 defeat to Manchester City, Arteta’s side then claimed a hardfought 1-0 win over Norwich, a 1-0 victory away to Burnley, followed by a 3-0 win over Wimbledon in the League Cup.
The Gunners then put on a strong defensive performance to beat North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 in the Premier League and have now claimed a point away to Brighton after keeping a clean sheet.
Another clean sheet. @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/eiWPBKzyxd
— Benjamin White (@ben6white) October 2, 2021
And while keeping clean sheets against the likes of Brighton, Norwich and Burnley may not sound particularly impressive, it’s worth bearing in mind that only Man City and Liverpool have picked up more points in the last five Premier League match days than Arsenal.
This will undoubtedly come as good news for Arteta and sporting director Edu, who spent the vast majority of their summer transfer budget on defensive players like Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
There’s no doubt that Arteta’s side still have plenty of work to do and could certainly use a consistent goalscorer up front, but this shift to defensive fortitude seems to be working and is certainly good news for Arsenal fans.
