Despite lack of clean sheets, Arsenal have been impressive defensively

Arsenal’s bright start to the season has by no means gone unnoticed, as critics have been forced to eat some humble pie following their predictions of abject failure for a team still talking about their title credentials.

And while Aaron Ramsey has caught the eye with a scintillating goal-scoring record and Mesut Ozil’s purchase raised expectations in the offensive third of the pitch, there is much to be said about the improvement in the defence for the Gunners.

Arsenal‘s goals conceded in EPL this season so far

While eight goals conceded in their opening seven Premier League matches is hardly a remarkable record, and the only side to fail to score against Wojciech Szczesny are goal-shy Tottenham; their goals per game ratio is definitely brought up by the surprise opening day 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

However since then they have gotten their act together and formed a strong unit to complete shut-outs against the likes of Spurs and Napoli, with a consistent back-line proving to be useful to them gaining some consistency on the pitch as well.

Arsenal’s total defensive actions this season

Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker have between them made 61 clearances to aid the cause, while full-backs Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs have mustered 23 apiece.

The squad on a whole have managed to win an outstanding 73% of their 128 attempted tackles in the league this campaign, with Mertesacker in particular standing out; the gentle giant winning all of his challenges on the ground, while also succeeding 68% of the time in the air.

And when they win possession, they are loath to give it back to their opponents as well, with only Kieran Gibbs of the regularly selected back four recording a pass success ratio of less than 89%, as the defence simply pop it off to their more creative colleagues in the midfield to let them do the incisive stuff.

And it’s not just the defenders you deserve credit for upping their game this season, as Szczesny himself has remarkably improved his game since struggling to hold down the number one position last season and Victor Valdes being mooted as a potential move in the summer.

One would expect the Polish ‘keeper to have it easier this season given Arsenal’s loftier position in the table, but Szczesny has been busier this season and risen to the task, making 2.57 saves per game compared to just 1.68 last season.

More importantly, his saves per goal ratio has improved as well, as last season’s poor score of just 1.75 saves per goal has improved to 2.25, which given over a fewer games stands out as a far better return from their stopper.

Szczesny’s saves per goal this term

Given Arsenal have still conceded eight goals this season, Arsenal have clearly not had everything their own way this season, with an average possession of just 52% down on last season’s total of 55%.

Without a vast improvement on their defensive attributes, there is no way that Arsenal could be sitting pretty at the top of the table, so it is fortunate that they have been able to rely on the men at the back so far this season.

All they have to do now is keep them fit for a longer period of time than they’re used to.