When a team hasn’t won a title, whether ever or just over a prolonged period of time, we handle their situation with different gloves.
MORE — Gunners misfire at Forest
It might not feel right to the players and staff who’ve only accounted for a limited amount of that wait, but it’s how we do it. The “yeah but” to every first timer’s case — Chelsea in 2005-06, Man City in 2011-12, Liverpool in 2019-20 or even the greatest of outliers in Leicester City’s 2015-16 — is their lack of history summiting title mountain.
Arsenal are the first team to 50 points and no one else is going to hit that mark for at least another game week. They are 6-0-0 in the Champions League and nearly-perfect in the League Cup, They’ve lost exactly twice — to current top-five teams — and have drawn Man City, Sunderland, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Forest. Only Forest sit lower than eighth on the table.
Yet with that affair being the most-recent example of Arsenal dropping points, it does ask some questions about the side.
How does this Arsenal rank amongst previous Premier League champions?
The Gunners’ current points-per-game haul is 2.27, set for a rough pace of 86 points. That would’ve been enough to tie Liverpool last season, edge the same foes in 2019-20, and beat 2020-21 champions Man City by three.
Their 1.81 goals per game? That projects to 69 goals, which would be the lowest goal haul for a Premier League champion since Leicester’s 68 in 2015-16. Man United scored 68 in 2008-09, but no other title winner this century has scored less than 72.
That might be fine, however, because of the back end. Arsenal are on pace to concede the fewest goals by a PL title winner since 2007-08 Man United. For what it’s worth, that pace equals a plus-45 goal differential. That’s substandard but the same as Liverpool last season far from the worst since the calendar shrank to 38 PL games.
The Premier League is undoubtedly deeper and richer than ever. The heavy favorites seem to be wobbling against bottom-third sides more often than we’ve experienced in previous eras.
It’s also possible that the three titles won between Man City and Liverpool late last decade, with the winners scoring between 98-100 goals, cloyed our tastes forever, but we like to think we’re still capable of amazement!
Are Arsenal just not dominant-enough to inspire?
It really might just be that Arsenal are the best team in the Premier League but simply not inspiring the neutral or the media in a way that captures the imagination.
After all, the story line is more straight-forward than fantasy: Can the deep, talented team simply say their lines this year? Can they avoid leaving the cake in the oven too long?
Or… can they simply take it out before its burnt. Cause dry cake is cake and they don’t ask how you got the crown when you’re simply desperate to re-acquire it.
Arsenal has the stingiest defense with the league’s best figures in clean sheets (11), goals conceded per match (0.6), and xG conceded (15.6). They’re second in goals per match, third in possession, and third in expected goals.
All of those marks are worthy of a champion, and a worthy champion. Has it been sexy? Not really, to be fair, but that could change soon. Maybe Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus will get hot. Gyokeres, quite honestly, could well do that, too (He’s been a lot better than his post-match recaps).
And, really, isn’t this just about Mikel Arteta being pragmatic? Inter Milan was on the horizon for this week when he opted for Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke over Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka, If the Gunners need a win, the hope is that he’s going to put his very best attackers out there. He just really hasn’t had to do that yet (I personally think his usage of Eberechi Eze is a criminal offense, but that’s another story).
It’s not that they’re untested, it’s that they’re regularly delivering A- grades. And with the rest of the league struggling to sniff B+, there’s hasn’t been anyone threatening their valedictory status.
