A lot has been made about the Arsenal defence and its inability to keep a clean sheet on the road in the Premier League and the stats certainly confirm that we have allowed at least one goal in every single away game this season, however, while you cannot ignore the stats, you cannot ignore how the defence is improving massively.
We have now gone three games without conceding a goal, against Man Utd, Rennes and Newcastle, and over our last eight games in all competitions we have kept five clean sheets.
OK, all were at home but even so, a clean sheet is a clean sheet, and when they start to happen on a regular basis that is a sign of improvement, and remember, that sequence includes a Man Utd side that put three past PSG in Paris.
Now, I will not pretend that our defence is rock solid, it clearly is not, but the constant negativity is painting a false picture. It is as if we have a Huddersfield type of defence when we simply do not, we have conceded just five more than Tottenham and Chelsea and four less than Man Utd, yet you never hear anywhere near as much about their respective defences in comparison to ours.
We actually have the fifth best defensive record in the Premier League and the third best goal difference and to put that into further perspective, we have conceded three goals less than our opponents on Sunday, Everton and scored 20 goals more, not so bad when you look at the bigger picture.
In conclusion, I accept that we have not had the best season defensively, but we are improving significantly and our record is not as bad when you compare it to our nearest top four rivals or opponents on Sunday.