Following Arsenal’s massively important 2-1 victory over fellow title-chasing Manchester City on Monday night, the Gunners are now the odds on favourite to hoist the Premier League title come May.
While the north London side is currently the popular choice to win the league title, they are two points behind surprise league-leading Leicester City in the table. Nevertheless, manager Arsene Wenger should be happy with how his team have played during the first half of the season, especially considering how many injuries the club have suffered so far.
Arsenal have been in this position three other times since the start of the 2007/08 campaign. In the 2013/14 and 2010/11 seasons, the Gunners were second heading into Christmas and during the 2007/08 seasonal period, Arsenal were leading the league. However, the Gunners failed to win the title in all three previous instances. The achilles heel in these occurrences? Defence.
Under Wenger, Arsenal have always been a free-flowing team that moves the ball around the pitch as eloquently as a gold medal figure skater. Goals are abundant at the Emirates, and at Highbury before that; however, the Gunners have not had the league’s best defence (in terms of fewest goals conceded) since their undefeated season in 2003/04.
The most glaring defensive difference between the Arsenal teams over the last decade and this season’s team is at the goalkeeper position. Gone are the days of Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and a young Wojciech Szczęsny between the sticks. When Wenger brought in Premier League veteran Petr Cech from rivals Chelsea this past summer, it completely changed this team, both mentally and physically.
The addition of Cech cannot be undervalued. Many, if not all, fans and pundits from around the globe dismissed the notion of the Czech Republic international joining the Gunners during the summer transfer period. Why would Chelsea, a team that entered this season as favorites for the title, give their rivals a perceived final piece of the puzzle that would significantly boost Arsenal’s chances at winning their first league title since 2004?
Nevertheless, Cech did join Arsenal and the Gunners have allowed the joint-fewest goals during league play so far this season. Heading into the current campaign, Chelsea captain John Terry proclaimed that his former teammate would give Arsenal 12-15 extra points this season. “[Cech] will strengthen them for sure. He will save them 12 or 15 points a season,” Terry told TalkSPORT. “Petr was an unbelievable professional last year. He’s going to be sorely missed and will improve any side he goes to.”
As big as Cech has been for Arsenal, the four defenders in front of him have been outstanding as well. Nacho Monreal may be one of the most underrated players in the Premier League at the moment, Hector Bellerin is turning into a budding star, Per Mertesacker is the consummate professional and an argument can be made that Laurent Koscielny is the best central defender in the league.
While some can say that Arsenal have been in this situation before and have blown their chance to win the title, the Gunners haven’t had a defence like this since their invincible season. If they can continue their impressive defensive run throughout the remainder of the campaign, this team can record their 14th title in their illustrious history.