While the world of Football continues to debate if Arsenal can maintain their title challenge, the history books suggests they can.
While winning 9 out of our first 10 fixtures is the Gunners best ever start to the Premiership, it’s actually something that has only happened 4 times in the history of the competition.
Here’s what happened every time ….
Chelsea 2005-2006
Chelsea officially made the best ever start to a campaign, winning their first 9 games.
It’s a standard they kept up winning 20 out of their first 22 matches, meaning they had won the title by xmas.
This allowed them to take their foot off the pedal in the second part of the season.
This was Jose Mourinho proving you could win the Championship essentially based on how you came out of the traps, setting such a pace no one could keep up.
Man city 2011-12
On the other hand, this version of Man City are an example of how a great start isn’t always enough.
Mancini’s side won 13 of their first 16 games yet when they lost at the Emirates in April, they found themselves 8 points behind Man United in the title race.
That left them having to win their remaining 6 fixtures, including the Manchester Derby, famously winning their first ever Prem on goal difference in the last seconds of the whole season.
Man City 17-18
This was the beginning of an era where based on how you started a season, while you couldn’t win the title by xmas, you could lose it.
City won an incredible 20 out of their first 22 games, meaning their rivals couldn’t afford to drop any points if they wanted to compete. Between them and Liverpool, it’s a standard that hasn’t been dropped since.
Maybe not surprising given their winning sequence, City are the only team in Prem history to record 100 points, zero teams winning it as early as they did.
Liverpool 2019-20
Liverpool incredibly got to February having won every Prem Fixture, drawing just one.
In the history of the ‘big 5 leagues ‘it remains the greatest ever start to a season (79 out of 81 points).
This led to talk of could they match our Invincible season. Of course, once they couldn’t, suddenly the media went back to saying going unbeaten didn’t matter
As you can see, we are in esteemed company, some of the greatest Champions this country has ever produced.
Every team who has won 9 out their first 10 Prem fixtures went on to be that season’s Champions.
Will Arsenal be the exception to the rule or are we witnessing something special?
Dan
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I do not have any belief in history, simply because it is not about now! It is a pointless comparison.
REALISTS KNOW THAT WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IS NOW, NOT WAY BACK WHEN , WHICH HAS NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH TODAY. No more than yesteryears players or managers do.
Simply being realistic and not a silly person.
Jon I agree that past history is not sufficient evidence to reach the suggested conclusion.
I fail to understand how other teams past performances justify Arsenal’s title chances.
Better to cite the growth of Arteta as a manager, the development of our young players, and the cohesion and mentality of the squad.
Jon, I understand what you are saying but have to disagree. History is very important in the world of sports. If you think about the article it starts with Jose setting a blueprint of how to win things. The teams that won after then followed the same blue print of what happened in history.
This logic can be applied in matches and playing styles. Managers copy tactics based on past performances. Goal keeper dive left or right based on previous penalties etc. Whist history dies not guarantee the future it can give us an insight to correlations. Correlation does not establish cause and affect but is a strong basis for an argument. Hence, the argument that arsenal are in pole position to win the league is a valid one.
Doesn’t mean that we will in the league hower we should 100% be in the conversation with city at the moment.
Past history show good start is essential. You cannot win the league by lost 5 match after 10 games
Everything is going well at the moment and long may it continue.
I don’t think history will play any part of we’re to win it.
Our performances will be the reason, down to the smallest detail.
It dawned on me yesterday how so many small details are contributing to us winning easily, one of them which is a thing Xhaka does this season.
That Salah’s goal against City on Sunday. If Xhaka was on that pitch, he stops Alison from making that kick, then he gets a yellow card and us fans will call him silly and rash.
He’s been doing that a lot this season, he stopped Alison one time in this recent game we won.
When he did it against Leicester, I was fuming, the he did it against Brentford and got a yellow card. I was absolutely mad, but looking at how City have no player doing that and it kick-started the move that brought their Loss, I can’t help but appreciate the little fact that Xhaka does that for us.
There’s so many contributing factor to why we’ll win the league if we do.
I doubt History is a valid one
Great article. I really hope we win EPL this season, but I will only believe in our chance if we can dominate Liverpool in the first 45 minutes at Anfield
Gai, dominating Liverpool in 45 minutes is not what would matter but taking points of them even if ugly. Leeds played well against us but we got vital 3 points, Arsenal played well against Man.U but lost 3 points. The Leceister City that won the league seasons ago where not dominating teams but they were getting results. We dont have to dominate big teams we only need to be tactically aware to get points of them.
Sylva, Leeds couldn’t win the ball possession against us in the first half
At Old Trafford, Man United dominated us until they scored in the first half, then they played counter-attack because they scored first
Leicester City won EPL by using counter-attacking tactics, but we don’t park the bus anymore
What sylva is asking you GAI is that,
Would you prefer us dominate Liverpool and lose the game or would you prefer if we do not dominate but win the game?
I’d prefer us dominate Liverpool since the first half at Anfield as Man City did
So you would prefer we dominate but lose than to not dominate but win ?
Something is wrong with you man.
If we can dominate Liverpool since the first minute till the end of the game at Anfield and lose it, that means we’re unlucky
Gai you are unbelievable.
And then Man City lost! Fans will forgive the players if you don’t dominate and get 3 points.
Gai you are funny and unrealistic sometimes.
Sylva, Man City lost because they were unlucky
I watched the game and they should’ve won it because there were many close-calls in front Liverpool’s goal
Liverpool were lucky to have Allison who was brilliant on that day
We can dominate them for 90 minutes but still lost..that’s how real world working.
Arsenal is firmly in the conversation and that’s down to the hungry gaffer, he’s quietly raised the bar without some us noticing
Yes we could lose like that, but that would mean we’re much better than them and just unlucky
Mr Dominate Liverpool first 45mnt, what does that prove, does it mean of we dominate Liverpool we are suddenly on there level overnight?
No matter how many positive result Arsenal gets this season we are still few years back behind Liverpool and Mancity. So I prefer we get good result when that day comes which is by the way a whole next year with lots and lots of games in between. Better result for now over dominating which will come as the Manager and team mature together.
It’s incredible how many arsenal fans don’t believe we are a match for anyone…I’m glad you guys don’t talk to the players…the only people who don’t think we can win the league are the fans
Remember when the Invincibles used to dominate Liverpool, Chelsea and Spuds at their turfs?
Our current team should reach that level, because that’s what Man City are at currently
Yes we can win the league , if Leicester could do it so can we, all arteta needs to do is prioritise which tournament he feels the trophy is winnable and utilise the players effectively to that goal.
I enjoyed reading this article, I appreciate positivity a lot!
I agree that sometimes, history does repeat and there are specific patterns that tend to re-occur, it happens all the time in football.
This happens because starting well creates momentum and gives confidence to the players and fans which in turn changes the mood around the club. There is nothing negative or toxic about or club right now, everything is absolutely fine and everyone associated with the club is buzzing even the mice at the Emirates are jubilant.
We are getting a lot of luck in some of our games, winning beautifully and ugly at times, everything is pointing toward a title challenge. One thing that has given me belief is the way our games have been scheduled. I think it has really helped to build our confidence. If we continue to go game by game and we keep pushing, there is nothing stopping us from winning the title. COYG!
The stats look promising, but this is a season like no other. If we can make it to the World Cup break still top then I will start believing. Winning the PL would make me both ecstatic & sick. Ecstatic for obvious reasons but sick because I didn’t take up the chance to get on Arsenal at 60-1 pre season.
In as much as history is important. History can also be broken some day.
But my intuition is telling me that we are going to win a major trophy this season.
Most preferably for me, I want the double – Premier League and Europa League.
Injuries are my biggest fear, but I believe Mother Nature would help us ride our luck and keep the players fit all through the season.
A few additions should still be done in January.
All things aligned for us we will be celebrating with a major trophy come May.
We all should just take it game by game.
Get the 3 points at the Emirates today against PSV and secure top spot in the group.
Go to Southampton, and give them revenge, as they won us last season, by winning them at their turf.
And keep the winning streak going for as long as possible.
If Arsenal fail to win the title (which I would regard as the most likely option given City’s strength and depth), I hope this narrative won’t be used to say Arteta blew it.
My thoughts exactly, knowing the author.
OZGooner, not just the author. There will be a few others on here, going by how last season finished.
If Arsenal win this season then a lot will say history has an uncanny way of repeating itself
I hope it does
For now let’s wait until after the WC and the next transfer window to speculate
If Arteta can switch between gameplans more better or quicker and use his substitutions wisely, going from possession-based to counter-attacking more smoothly, or if he realizes he has to because of how the game is panning out. I’d be more confident about a title shot.
At Leeds, our midfield should have played the counterattack more fluidly. Sylva & GAI’s conversation made me think about this.
You know what they say about history and doomed to repeat it and all that. They also say it is written by the victors. And that it is a good indicator of future happenings. I don’t know about all of that but what I do believe is that our games v the top eight teams will be a defining factor, esp the away games. We already lost our first one v manu, we need to be more ruthless in front of the goal if we are to keep up with this great pace. We beat some top eight at home and at times our finishing is more than adequate, that’s all good, so it’s interesting that we’ll face them again in the last stretch of the season, to the victor go the spoils.
History only tells us what happened “ before”. Not what will happen… IJS
Some time if you dont know where you are coming from you just don’t know where you are going, it is as simple as that.
As a Data scientist, I 100% disagree
Historical Data are what is fed to predictive algorithms e.g the recommended videos on YouTube are based on your past watched videos
My expectation for this season was winning EL only when season start, but now I’m tempting to win Premier League too.
I foresee 2 Trophy this season, whatever 2 Trophy will be wholesome this season. Always Gunners.
I bet all my fish in my pond for arsenal to win this league…if I lost my bet you all can come and eat all my fish
I was just pointing out a stat
Personally my belief is we will get nowhere near the title this season
Prediction ,opinion and past result don’t alter result in the future.
Who said they did ?
I believe that it will be difficult but not impossible. What Liverpool showed this week is that ManC are not invincible so who is to say that they won’t misfire again?
I’d agree the opening fixtures were kind but we still won them.
Apart from MC, the other ‘top clubs’ have had mixed fortunes and will nave to make up a lot of ground and Arsenal would have to stumble to be overtaken
Wouldn’t it be great if we did it?
Just keep steady, encompass that never say die spirit right to the bitter end and then we could follow the trend that has been set.
It’s great to dream and have hope but I wouldn’t go to the bookies. A local Leicester city friend put £100 on them to win that year. Lucky man but I’m too cautious
On the one hand, I’m delighted with how we’ve started the season – we look to have found some consistency and appear to be much more solid/robust – however, I kind of woke up to the fact we’ve only played 10 games so far. All I keep seeing is articles about whether we can win the title – it’s a bit much.
I’d rather see where we are after 20 games. If we’re still top at that point then I’d say we have a chance. Right now the history that really matters is how good city have been over the past year, and the fact they don’t look to be declining. As they say, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and they’ve shown they can do that. It’s yet to be seen if we’re at that level yet, but I’d suggest we should be cautious about believing so – it only adds pressure unnecessarily, especially if we do get a couple of bad results.
Nice article, history is very important have seen it use as a guide to telling effect in my life time.
But the law of average dictates Arsenal could actually upset the apple cart.
The reason most of us are being cautious or being pessimistic about us winning the league is because we have a poor history of always bottling the job at the end, whenever we start well.
I strongly believe that negative history has been broken with the new team set-up and structure that has been created by Arteta and Edu.
We have young and old talents and leaders all through our team now, so the winning momentum would only raise their morale to go on and win lots of games ahead.
The stars will align for our favor. We are due for a major trophy.
The premier league is like a 360 degrees circle.
10games – 10games – 10games – 8games.
We have passed the first quarter of our games well with 27/30 points.
We will begin the second quarter on Sunday against Southampton. I hope we begin with a win.
Let the media talk the talk and let watch Arteta and the players work the work on the pitch.
Our possible next 10 matches and my predictions –
Southampton (A) – 3
Notting Forest (H) – 3
Chelsea (A) – 1
Brighton (H) – 3
Wolves (A) – 3
West Ham (H) – 3
Brighton (A) – 3
Newcastle (H) – 3
Tottenham (A) – 0
Man United (H) – 3
TOTAL – 25 points??
Are you having a laugh?
LOSE TO SPURS !!
Bit pessimistic ain’t it?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; one game at a time an see wbere the Arsenal ends up!
We got a flying start in in 07/08 season and 13/14 but failed to win it at the end especially in 2008 we were young exactley the same problem as today….Even in 02/03 WE were domination the League in the early months to bottel it towrds the end….United had a 12 points gap on us in 97/98 and botteled it….Newcastle a tema that won 9 out of 10 of their opening games in 95/96 Lost it at the end to Man U…..We’r far from being champions and way behind City so Let’s not delude ourselves.There is progress though don’t get me wrong but to talk about being champions is ahead of schedul.
For me, we can. It all depends on arteta and his coaching staff. If only players can be kept fit, if only players can be taught to know when to shoot when to pass the ball and when to hold on to the ball, if only arteta can learn to make substitutions promptly and change tactical approach according to the opposition team, and if only edu and those responsible for recruitment can bolster the team with needed players in January then, we will not only win PL but also EL.
For me, we can. It all depends on arteta and his coaching staff. If only players can be kept fit, if only players can be taught to know when to shoot when to pass the ball and when to hold on to the ball, if only arteta can learn to make substitutions promptly and change tactical approach according to the opposition team, if only players will be made to mean business and kill off matches when they have the opportunity and if only edu and those responsible for recruitment can bolster the team with needed players in January then, we will not only win PL but also EL.