Arsenal's defence are setting records - can they break Chelsea's?

With a near-impenetrable defence who are routinely keeping clean sheets, Arsenal have just equalled a 122-year club record. Football writer Dan Edwards looks at what else they could achieve this season.

It is often said that attack is the best form of defence, but in Arsenal’s case their defence may be their best form of attack.

Mikel Arteta’s side defeated Burnley at the weekend to win their fifth consecutive game without conceding in the Premier League.

Indeed, after preventing Slavia Prague scoring in a 3-0 win in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, Arsenal recorded an eighth successive clean sheet in all competitions.

That equalled a club record set 122 years ago, from April to October 1903, when Woolwich Arsenal did not concede a single goal in their final three league matches of the 1902/03 season or their first five of 1903/04.

Meanwhile, in attack, the current Arsenal team have now scored eight goals from corners, following their opener against Burnley on Saturday.

It is the most goals a team have ever scored from corners at this stage of a Premier League campaign, with Gabriel Magalhaes laying the ball on a plate for Viktor Gyokeres following one of Declan Rice’s customary whipped crosses. 

Watch: All EIGHT of Arsenal's goals from corners this season

Burnley struggled to make any impression on the game at all, and they were completely suffocated during the first half especially. 

The Clarets' first shot came in the 71st minute, while they failed to record a single attempt on target during the entire game. 

It was the fifth time this season that a side has failed to produce a shot on target in the Premier League, and Arsenal were the opposition team for three of those instances, also denying West Ham United and Fulham a shot on goal last month. 

"We started the game exceptionally well," Arteta said in his post-match press conference. 

"I think the first half is one of the best that we've played; we scored two goals, generated another two or three big chances and conceded nothing. And that was a platform, because in the second half we dropped the standards, especially with the ball, and with our intentions to play more forward. But again, defensively, we were exceptional."

It leaves Arsenal with just three goals conceded from 10 matches in the Premier League this season.

Will Arsenal beat Chelsea's record?

The only team to have conceded fewer goals at this stage of a campaign in the competition are Chelsea in 2004/05, who were breached just twice in their first 10 games on their way to winning the Premier League title for the first time. 

That Chelsea side are especially relevant here because they went on to set the record for the fewest goals conceded by a team across a full Premier League season, with 15.

Fewest goals conceded in a season

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No side have come particularly close to threatening that record since, and in such a goal-laden era, the possibility of it being matched had been largely ruled out – until now. 

Arsenal are conceding 0.30 goals per game in the league this season, while Chelsea’s record-setting side conceded 0.39 goals per game. 

Extrapolating’s Arsenal’s current concession rate across a full season would result in them conceding between 11 and 12 goals overall. 

Of course, it is never quite that simple, and Arsenal’s defence will no doubt come under more scrutiny as the season progresses, but the intense desire to avoid conceding goals is evident for all to see. 

Even in the fourth minute of stoppage time at Burnley, when Arsenal knew full well that the hosts did not have enough time to alter the overall result, the entire side sprinted back from a cleared corner as the Clarets threatened to attack on the break. 

"I think, again, the spirit is [shown by] an action at the end," Arteta continued. 

"After a corner from Declan where Ethan [Nwaneri] doesn't win the duel, you see 10 players sprinting 80 metres. I mean, [if] we play with that desire, with that focus, with that discipline, we'll win a lot of games.” 

Watch Arsenal's players rush back

Attacking threat

But for Arsenal’s defenders, denying goals is not their only task – they appear to take just as much pride in contributing at the other end too. 

Gabriel’s knock-down for Arsenal’s opening goal was his third assist in the space of four starts in all competitions, and unsurprisingly, each of those assists resulted from one of Arsenal’s seemingly unstoppable corner routines. 

While the Brazilian has rightfully earned a great deal of credit for his attacking returns, full-back pair Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber deserve a mention too. 

Calafiori ranks first among all defenders in the Premier League this season for shots, while his 1.98 Expected Goals (xG) places him second, and he is third for touches in the opposition box (28). 

Timber, meanwhile, leads all defenders for xG and touches in the opposition box (34), and sits joint-third for shots. 

Premier League defenders' attacking stats, 25/26

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Not only do Arsenal’s defenders make it near impossible for the opposition to lay a glove on them, but they also provide a significant threat at the other end too. 

Praise from Pep

Pep Guardiola - whose Manchester City side may well be Arsenal’s closest challengers this season – noted this dual threat when quizzed on his team’s title chances following their win against AFC Bournemouth on Sunday. 

"We are six points behind Arsenal, who look unstoppable right now because they play fantastic," he said. 

"They don’t concede goals, they are so solid, they can score from many different situations, positions and many players."

Guardiola knows that with Arsenal in this form, they are the clear favourites for the title. 

"Hopefully Arsenal will concede a goal one day," he joked. "It’s not easy to face them."

Arteta was Guardiola’s second in command at Man City for more than three years before taking over the reins at Arsenal. 

Eighteen months later, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover made the same move. 

The pair have since become two of football’s greatest coaches in their respective roles, and their partnership has helped Arsenal become Europe’s leading club for defensive aptitude and set-piece excellence.

At the moment, that combination appears poised to end Arsenal’s two-decade wait for a Premier League title.