Many Arsenal fans have been shouting from the rooftops, ‘Arsenal need a world class striker in January to win the league.’ There are two ways of looking at this. Yes because it would help the team put away chances which Olivier Giroud may not be doing currently. However, if Arsenal don’t get that new world class striker we all want, it may not be the end of the world. This piece will try and highlight why that’s the case.

Arsenal currently have the equal best defensive record, with Everton, in the EPL with 18 goals conceded in 19 matches. The current first choice back 5 of Wojceich Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs have formed a great partnership- one which Arsenal have needed for a number of seasons. If all 5 players can stay fit for the remaining matches in the season, Arsenal have a much better chance of winning the EPL title, which the club and fans desire so heavily.

An interesting and unknown fact to many Arsenal fans is that Arsenal’s back 5 have never lost a Premier League game, in which they’ve all completed 90 minutes. This dates back to August 2011 when Per Mertesacker was signed by the Arsenal Football Club. This may seem unlikely, but each time Arsenal have lost in the 2013/14 season, 3-1 loss to Aston Villa (Koscielny sent off in the 67th minute), 1-0 Manchester United (Koscielny out, Vermaelen played) and Manchester City (Koscielny went off injured in the 42nd minute), none of the back 5 have played the entire 90 minutes. As mentioned above, the record goes well beyond this current season though.

The importance of the back 5 is further signified by the number of points gained when Arsenal keep a clean sheet. In the 2013/14 season, excluding the Champions League and domestic cup competitions, Arsenal have picked up 2.75 points when they keep a clean sheet. Arsenal have kept 8 clean sheets for 7 wins and 1 draw. The only blip was the 0-0 draw against Chelsea on the 23rd December, where Arsenal could have scored a late winner with an Olivier Giroud shot from 5 metres being kept out via Petr Cech’s outstretched foot.

In the 2012/13 season, Arsenal kept 14 clean sheets in the EPL, which saw Arsenal pick up 10 wins and 4 draws. That means Arsenal picked up 2.429 points when the team kept a clean sheet last season. This means that over the past 2 seasons, 2012/13 and 2013/14, Arsenal have picked up 2.545 points per clean sheet. This just highlights how important keeping a clean sheet is for Arsenal in their desire to win trophies! Whilst scoring goals is extremely important, the defensive display is actually more important when you can pick up 2.545 points on average when you keep a clean sheet. That equates to 97 points a season over the course of a 38 match league season.

Arsenal’s disciplinary record from the back 5 has been exceptional this season, for the most part. As articles in recent days have highlighted, Per Mertesacker hasn’t received a yellow card in his last 64 matches. This is an amazing statistic and shows how well Mertesacker reads the game in the defensive phase. That stat is consistent with the entire Arsenal back 5, who in 85 combined league appearances in 2013/14, have only received 6 yellows and 1 red card in the league. Whilst many defenders will misread a situation and receive a yellow card, the Arsenal back 5 have been excelling in their tackling and interception statistics, which place them high up in the league.

In conclusion, this piece isn’t saying that Arsenal don’t need to buy players, particularly a striker, in the January transfer window, as I believe they do. It just points out that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a signing didn’t eventuate. If Arsenal can pick up clean sheets, as they have done in 8 of 19 league matches in 2013/14, more regularly and continue picking up 2.75 points per clean sheet, Arsenal will win the league!

Update: After Arsenal kept a clean sheet against Cardiff, the team have now kept 2.8 points on average per clean sheet. That’s come from 10 matches, which is quite good from 20 matches.

Per Mertesacker also picked up a yellow card against Cardiff. His first in 65 matches for Arsenal.