Arsenal emulate ‘important’ Pep Guardiola formula to become Premier League’s best in one area

Arsenal have had an outstanding start to the 2023–24 season and are presently in third place, one point behind league leaders Manchester City.

Arsenal are the Premier League’s best-performing defensive unit as of the conclusion of their most recent round of matches. Despite conceding in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Burnley, Arsenal have conceded the joint-fewest number of goals in the league this season, sharing the record with Liverpool with ten.

Nevertheless, a metric that distinguishes them from their counterparts in the English Premier League is their expected goals against (xGA) total, which is presently 9.2 according to Fbref. This figure is perhaps the most impressive. With 11.1, Manchester City is in second place, followed by Liverpool and Newcastle United, who are in third and fourth place, respectively, with 13.4 and 14.4 points.

Mikel Arteta’s squad has risen one level in terms of loss of possession this season, and summer acquisition Declan Rice has unquestionably contributed significantly to that. Arsenal have become more resolute in central areas under the leadership of Rice, while at the rear, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu have all performed admirably.

Each of those four defenders is exceptionally skilled with the ball at their feet and eager to advance it vertically, but they share a simple but crucial commitment to preventing the ball from entering the net. Recent remarks made by Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, emphasized this point regarding his center-backs.

“They understand the significance of it because we emphasize its decisiveness,” Guardiola said of the defensive mentality of his squad. “It appears that our defense has developed a taste for defending itself.”

“Defense has always been an extraordinarily formidable ability.” We invariably associate talent with abilities, dribbles, and similar factors.

City are presently in first place in the table, one point ahead of the Gunners. In contrast, Liverpool have a marginal advantage over Arteta et al. due to their superior goal difference in comparison to their title competitors.