41 goals conceded 

©TM/IMAGO

“Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” That is the famous quote from Sir Alex Ferguson and Mikel Arteta has certainly heeded the advice from the legendary Manchester United manager in his quest to deliver silverware with Arsenal. The North London club are on the brink of a truly remarkable season in their illustrious history with their six-year trophy drought almost certain to end.

After defeating Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals, Arsenal have reached their first Champions League final in twenty years and only their second ever. Arteta’s men are also overwhelming favourites to lift the English Premier League trophy with a five point advantage over Manchester City with three games remaining – Pep Guardiola’s men have one game in hand. The backbone to their success this season has unquestionably been their defence. Arsenal recorded their 30th clean sheet of the season in 59 games and their defensive record is comfortably the best in Europe.

The best defences in Europe this season

In William Saliba and Gabriel, Arsenal have two of the best centre-backs in the world and David Raya deserves to be in the conversion around the best goalkeeper. Arteta has a plethora of options at full-back and Declan Rice provides incredible protection from his midfield role. And as the graphic below illustrates, Arsenal have only conceded 41 goals in 59 clean sheets this campaign at an average of 0.69 goals conceded per game.

That is easily the best defensive record from top five league clubs in all competitions. AC Milan rank second, conceding 0.82 goals per 90 with Cesc Fàbregas’ Como completing the top three (0.83). Perhaps unsurprisingly, six Serie A clubs feature in the top ten, which is indicative of the style of play in the Italian top-flight. Interestingly, the Bundesliga is the only top five league not to have a representative in the top ten and that’s mainly due to the attacking, high-scoring nature of the German top-flight.