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Across a Premier League season, the ability to grind out results week after week is the key to success, and consistency is something Arsenal fans know all about. Last season the Gunners achieved a top four finish for the 20th season in a row. In that time, the ability to consistently pick up points against clubs lower down the league, especially newly-promoted clubs, has been critical for Arsène Wenger’s side.
In 2015-16, the newly-promoted clubs from the Championship were Bournemouth, Norwich City and Watford. In six games against them, home and away, Arsenal dropped just two points from a possible 18. The Gunners finished the season in second, on 71 points. Take away the 16 points gained against the newly-promoted clubs and you would have been looking at a very different season for Arsenal.
Mesut Özil scored in four of those six games, illustrating his value to the team. He also scored Arsenal’s goal in the 2-1 defeat to Watford in the sixth round of the FA Cup.
In the 2014-15 season, Arsenal again won five of their six league matches against the newly-promoted clubs, drawing the other fixture 1-1 at Leicester City, who joined Burnley and Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League that season.
That kind of form has carried over into the first half of this season, with Arsenal winning 4-1 away against Hull City, 1-0 away and 2-1 at home against Burnley, and drawing 0-0 at home to Middlesbrough, all of whom were promoted from the Championship last season.
Indeed, if you look back over the last four seasons, Arsenal’s record against sides newly promoted to the Premier League reads played 24, won 21, drawn three, lost zero.
As discussed by 888sport last month, the question being asked in the Championship this season is who is likely to join Newcastle United in the Premier League next season? The Magpies are red hot favourites to make an instant return to the top flight following relegation last season. While Newcastle are looking formidable under Rafa Benítez, Arsenal will take comfort from the fact they took six points from six against the Magpies in the 2015-16 season, winning 1-0 home and away.
Arsenal have played against some of the other sides battling for promotion from the Championship this season. A 2-0 EFL Cup win at the Emirates over Reading in October was followed by a 2-1 FA Cup third round win at Preston North End at the start of the month. Brighton and Hove Albion are another team flying high in the Championship, and Arsenal won 3-2 at the Amex Stadium in the FA Cup fourth round in 2015 on their way to winning the trophy for the second season in succession.
Any team looking to finish in the top four of the Premier League must win its games against newly-promoted clubs, and Arsenal have shown season after season that they have the ability to do just that.
