The Gunners were condemned to their sixth Premier League reverse of the new campaign, making some unwanted history in the process
Arsenal’s woes were deepened in defeat on Sunday as their north London derby loss to Tottenham continued to pile the pressure on Mikel Arteta, leaving the club facing their worst league start for almost four decades.
The Gunners were condemned to their sixth Premier League reverse of the new campaign, leaving them closer to the relegation zone than to the summit thanks to goals from Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.
With almost a dozen top-flight games under their belt already, Arteta’s side look to be facing an uphill battle to secure a top-six berth once more, having only qualified for this year’s Europa League through their FA Cup victory in August.
Since their triumph at Wembley however, it has been a relatively torrid few months on the domestic front, with three wins from their opening four matches having since translated to just one in their last seven in the league.
A lone point against recently promoted Leeds United is the pick of the bunch in terms of positive results, with the Gunners having lost to Aston Villa, Wolves and Spurs since they last won, against Manchester United at the start of November.
Those results mean that Arsenal have earned just 13 points from 11 league games this season, their lowest return at this stage of a top-flight campaign for 39 years, since 1981-82 when they achieved 12.
In defeat to Jose Mourinho too, Arteta became just the second Arsenal manager to lose each of his first two north London derbies for over half a century, after Bertie Mee in 1966-67.
The manner of the club’s defeat against their rivals – in a game they statistically dominated, with 70 per cent of possession throughout – will rankle the Spaniard too, particularly given his side’s creativity throughout.
Arsenal attempted 32 open-play crosses in total, their most in a single Premier League match for almost five years, since February 2016 against Leicester when they managed 36.
It also represented their most away from home for the better part of a decade, since March 2011 when they also logged 32 attempts against West Bromat the Hawthorns.
