On February 3 Arsenal were fifth, ten points behind Tottenham Hotspur. Since then, Unai Emery’s side have taken 16 points out of a possible 18 in the Premier League, and last night’s win over Newcastle moved them up to third, two points ahead of Tottenham. In all competitions, they have won seven of their last ten matches. But have Unai Emery’s Arsenal really turned a corner? And if so, what’s behind this improvement?

Improved defence – sort of

After 22 Premier League matches, Arsenal had only kept three clean sheets — only Fulham had a worse record. Last night’s shutout of Newcastle made it four clean sheets in their last nine games. Since February 3, when they lost to Manchester City 3-1, Arsenal have