They say attack wins you games and defence wins you titles – what can Arsenal learn from past winners?
Jamie Carragher has made his case about Arsenal looking less like potential champions this year than last – Gary Neville has said he disagrees…so what do the numbers say about if you need a better attack or defence to win the Premier League title?
Neville’s argument is one we’ve heard many times before, that this current Arsenal side might be producing less free-flowing attacking football than last season, but they are better equipped to get over the line in difficult games when they’re not at their best. Neville probably subscribes to the view of his former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who certainly knows a thing or two about winning titles, who said that “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”.
While it wouldn’t be right to say Fergie and Neville don’t know what they’re talking about, and there are more intricacies in the twists and turns of a season-long title race than the final league table might suggest, it seems the numbers don’t back up this claim.
Since the start of the Premier League in 1992/93 season to the last completed campaign in 2022/23:
- The team that scored the most goals won 20 of the 31 titles
- The team that conceded the fewest goals won 15 of the 31 titles
- The team with the best attack but not the best defence won 11 of the 31 titles
- The team with the best defence but not the best attack won 5 of the 31 titles
- In 31 seasons a team has both scored the most and conceded the fewest ten times – only once did this fail to result in winning the title (Tottenham in 2016/17)
Ferguson should really know a thing or two about this, as his Man Utd sides came out on top of teams with better defensive records a few times. On one notable occasion, you may remember his team winning the treble,
Read on caughtoffside.com
