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Arsenal may not have finished the season where they really wanted to, that is, at the top of the Premier League table, but they can still be extremely proud of the campaign. In several areas, the Gunners boasted some impressive figures and they should take great confidence in heading into next season. Here are some of the London club’s biggest standout figures from the 2023/24 season.
Win Percentage – 67.3%
Arsenal’s total of 89 points fell just short of the 90 they recorded in the Invincibles season but it did come with a superior win rate (28 versus 26). In fact, never in their history have the Gunners recorded such a high winning percentage during a league campaign. They did manage more actual victories back in 1970/71 but this was back when the English top flight had 42 matches a season, not 38. In a 38-game season, 28 victories is a new Arsenal record.
Goals Scored – 91
Although Arsenal’s tally of 91 goals scored was five fewer than Man City, it was the most the Gunners have managed in a league season since 1952/53. Their most prolific Premier League season, from a goalscoring point of view, saw them have 15 individual scorers and three players (Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard) with double-digit hauls. The Gunners were particularly good at scoring in the first half of matches too, doing so 42 times, the most in the Premier League.
Another interesting stat linked to Arsenal’s goalscoring exploits is they became the first team in English league football to win three successive away games by 5+ goals. This incredible run saw Mikel Arteta’s men beat West Ham 6-0, Burnley 5-0 and Sheffield United 6-0.
Set Piece Goals – 22
Nicolas Jover is not a new figure at Arsenal but the set piece coach has masterminded a particularly brilliant season. Before moving from Man City to North London, the Gunners scored just six goals from set pieces (2020/21). The following two seasons, under Jover’s guidance, this number went up to 16 (26% of all goals) and 15 (17% of all goals). So, the Gunners had already made marked improvement under the German-born man but thanks to him, Arsenal managed a huge 22 goals from set pieces, the highest in the division.
Sixteen of this total came from corners, which is the joint most ever recorded in a Premier League campaign. It’s not a record you would necessarily expect from a team like Arsenal but one that is particularly impressive when the Gunners did not even top the 2023/24 table for most corners won (22 less than Liverpool and 21 less than Man City).
Red Cards – 2
In recent seasons, the red half of north London frequently saw red. In 2020/21, they received five red cards and this only decreased by one the following year. In both instances, this put Arsenal second in the red card table. Mikel Arteta has got the Gunners more disciplined now though, in 2022/23 they were the only team not to collect a red card and in 2023/24 they picked up just two. In both cases, the red cards, shown to Takehiro Tomiyasu and Fabio Veira, made no difference as Arsenal managed to hold on to their lead.
High Claims (Goalkeeper) – 48
David Raya endured some nervy moments with the ball at his feet but his ability to claim crosses was one of the reasons he took the number one spot from Aaron Ramsdale. In the 2022/23 season, a campaign in which Ramsdale played every game, the Englishman made just 22 high claims, the third-lowest number in the top flight. You cannot blame this on a lack of opportunities either as with an even stronger defence, this figure rose to 48 for the 2023/24 season thanks to Raya. Only Villa (51) and Burnley (50) recorded more and this front-footed goalkeeping will be missed if the Spaniard does not return to the Emirates following the end of his loan deal.
Clean Sheets (Goalkeeper) – 16
Despite not playing in six league games of the season, David Raya still managed to scoop the Golden Glove award with 16 clean sheets. While this is far from a record-breaking number, it was the highest-scoring Premier League season ever so clean sheets have been particularly hard to come by. Despite this, Raya registered three more clean sheets than the next-highest challenger, Jordan Pickford, who did not miss a single game. This is the first time since Petr Cech in 2015/16 that an Arsenal keeper has pocketed the Golden Glove award.
Of Raya’s 16 clean sheets, six came in successive away matches. Only two teams, Chelsea in 2008 and Man Utd in 2009, have managed more consecutive away clean sheets in the Premier League (both seven).
Points Against Man City – 4
One thing that really hurt Arsenal’s shot at the title in 2022/23 was losing home and away against Man City. Neither loss came as a surprise, despite the improvement Mikel Arteta had overseen, due to Arsenal’s torrid record against the Citizens. The second of the 2022/23 defeats made it 12 in a row in the league, with the Manchester side last dropping points in the fixture back in April 2017 following a 2-2 draw. So, the Gunners managing four points this season marked a huge improvement and one that should give them real confidence when the two clubs meet again. No longer is this fixture an almost guaranteed six-pointer for Man City.
Most Minutes Played – 4502
It was a busy season for the Gunners who faced 52 matches across all competitions. William Saliba played in 50, the two exceptions being both League Cup clashes. Racking up 4,502 minutes across these half-century appearances, the French defender had more time on the pitch than any of his teammates. He did not make the most appearances, however, as both Ben White and Declan Rice appeared 51 times during this hectic campaign.
Attendance – 60,236
With an average home crowd of 60,236 in the Premier League, this was Arsenal’s best-attended season since opening the Emirates Stadium back in 2006/07. Compared to other sides in the division, this was the fourth-highest tally with the Gunners narrowly trailing London rivals Tottenham (61,459) and West Ham (62,438).
Trophies – 0
For all the extremely positive figures Arsenal recorded in 2023/24, the only one that truly matters is the number of trophies, which sits at 0. There is no doubt that the team Arteta has assembled is good enough to start collecting silverware but they have now faced three trophyless seasons (excluding the Community Shield). There is no disgrace in losing the title narrowly to Man City, or facing elimination in cup competitions at the hands of Liverpool or Bayern Munich but Arteta may start feeling the pressure if he cannot secure any silverware over the next couple of seasons.
