‘It’s bonkers’ – Matt Le Tissier stunned by ‘ridiculous’ Arsenal development
Arsenal will be able to break Chelsea’s Premier League goals conceded record and win the Premier League title if they keep all of their first-choice defenders fit for the whole campaign.
That is according to Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier, who has exclusively told Football Insider that he fancies the Gunners to achieve both feats due to their impressive consistency at the back.
Arsenal have started the 2025-26 campaign in fine form and many fans and neutrals alike are starting to believe that it could finally be their year after 22 seasons without a Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta‘s side saw off Crystal Palace on Sunday (26 October) as Eberechi Eze scored against his old club to seal a 1-0 win.
They have remained at the summit of the top-flight after their victory and are now four points ahead of nearest rivals Bournemouth, six ahead of Man City and seven ahead of struggling Liverpool.
Arsenal’s defensive record has been key to their great form
Arsenal boasted the best defensive record in the Premier League last season as they conceded just 34 goals in 38 games and David Raya won the Golden Glove award in successive campaigns.
Gabriel and William Saliba have formed a hugely impressive centre-back partnership in recent years which has continued into this season with just one of their three league goals conceded so far coming while they were playing together.
Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have been ever-presents at right and left-back in league games too, while Christhian Mosquera, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Piero Hincapie have all filled in expertly from the bench.
The record for the least Premier League goals conceded in a single 38-game season stands at 15, achieved by Chelsea in 2004-05 on their way to the title.
Arteta spoke about his side’s potential to break that record this season last week, saying: “Those kind of records bring silverware at the end and the trophies that we want. The more we can produce, the closer we will be. The teams with the best defensive records most of the time, except the past three seasons, normally win the league – so the stats go against us.“
Le Tissier thinks Arsenal can break Chelsea record and will be hard to catch for the title as a result
The Gunners allowed just one shot on target across all three of their Premier League games in October against West Ham, Fulham and Palace.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former England and Southampton striker Le Tissier praised that particular stat and backed Arsenal to concede less than Chelsea in 2004-05 if they are able to avoid injuries in their backline.
“That (shots conceded) stat is bonkers. For a team to play a few games in the Premier League and for the goalkeeper to only have had one effort to save, it’s just ridiculous.
“That just shows you how well organised they are, how difficult they are to break down. It is going to be difficult for any team to catch up.
“You’ve got a team (that) is probably not playing as attractive football (compared to) Arsenal two or three years ago, but they’re so much more resilient, defensively resilient, and that is going to be really difficult to claw back.
“Three goals let in in the first nine games, I think that’s pretty impressive. If they continue that kind of form they’re looking at perhaps beating the Premier League record, Chelsea 2004-05, I think it was when Mourinho was there, that was 15. They’re on track for that.
“Obviously they’ve got a lot of fixtures to play. They’re going to have to hope that their defenders stay fit. That will probably be the biggest key to it (winning the title and beating the record) because if that first choice defence stays fit throughout the season, they are going to take some catching. It’s going to be really hard.”