Only Real Madrid have been better than Arsenal in this key area in 2024



Arsenal kept another clean sheet last night in their win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, continuing their superb run of form in that department in the calendar year 2024.

The Gunners have been rock solid at the back in recent months, with David Raya proving a superb signing in goal, while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have been hugely important performers in central defence.

According to Opta Joe, this now means Arsenal are on a run of 17 clean sheets in 32 games this year, with only Real Madrid managing more in that time – and that’s a team that won La Liga and the Champions League last season…

17 – Arsenal have kept 17 clean sheets in 32 games in all competitions in 2024, the most of any Premier League side. Indeed, across Europe’s big-five leagues this year, only Real Madrid have kept more (18). Elite. #UCL pic.twitter.com/umGpJ3L6qi

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 1, 2024

Arsenal have become so hard to beat under Mikel Arteta, and fans will be thrilled that it led to another impressive victory last night as they beat PSG 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

The Ligue 1 giants are a top side, even if they’re missing Kylian Mbappe since his departure in the summer, but Arsenal were comfortably the better team last night, with their defenders keeping Luis Enrique’s attacking players pretty quiet.

Can Arsenal’s defence finally help the Gunners win silverware?

Arsenal were pretty unlucky to only narrowly miss out on the Premier League title last season, as their superb end-of-season form saw them take the title race down to the final day.

Manchester City ended up getting the win they needed, finishing just two points ahead of the north London giants, who are clearly not going away as a serious threat for major trophies.

Riccardo Calafiori with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
 

Arsenal fans will hope the likes of Saliba and Gabriel, plus other recent signings like Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber, can continue to perform like this and eventually end up guiding the team to major silverware such as the Premier League or Champions League.

At the moment, AFC look like serious contenders, so they’ll just have to ensure they avoid injuries and maintain their focus over what will undoubtedly be a long and challenging campaign.