Arsenal could achieve a feat never achieved by an English top-flight team before when they pit their wits against Fulham in Sunday’s Premier League derby.
Thanks to Liverpool and Everton’s Merseyside derby on Saturday being postponed as a consequence of Storm Darragh, the Gunners could move to within four points of the Premier League leaders at Craven Cottage.
Mikel Arteta‘s men lost their way before the November international break, but akin to the early phase of 2024, they have since revived their season with numerous goal-laden performances.
West Ham United, Nottingham Forest and Sporting Lisbon have all lost to the Gunners by three or more goals over the past few weeks, and Arteta’s team were barely troubled in their 2-0 win over Manchester United in midweek.
Arsenal failed to win either meeting with Fulham last year – putting in their “worst performance” of the 2023-24 season in their 2-1 loss at Craven Cottage on New Year’s Eve – but smashing Marco Silva‘s men could cement their place in history.
Arsenal out to score five+ goals for sixth time in 2024
© IconSport
Should the Gunners manage to score five times against Fulham on Sunday, they will become the first-ever English top-flight team to net at least five goals in six away matches in a calendar year.
Arteta’s men became just the third team to net five goals in five different road matches in their thrashing of West Ham, emulating the Manchester City team of 1937 and the Sunderland outfit of 1892.
That 5-2 beating marked the second time this year that Arsenal have hit West Ham for five or more at the London Stadium, having also pummelled the Irons 6-0 last season for their biggest Premier League away win to date.
The Gunners have also scored a quintet of goals on Sporting, Sheffield United and Burnley’s turf since the turn of the year, and they are also closing in on a second slice of English football history.
With 82 Premier League goals scored already in 2024, Arsenal need just five more this month to set a new outright record and surpass the current highest tally of 86, and they still have four games to try to achieve that unprecedented feat.
Arteta: ‘Arsenal want to be the kings of everything’
© Imago
Key to Arsenal’s prolific goalscoring form has been their unrivalled success at corners, having netted 22 Premier League goals from such situations since the start of last term, including both of their efforts against Manchester United in midweek.
However, Arteta is not content with his side just being the ‘corner kings’, telling reporters at his pre-match press conference: “We want to be the kings of everything – at set pieces, the best in the world, at high press, the best in the world, attacking open spaces, the best in the world.
“We want the best atmosphere in the stadium, and be the best at everything. Before it was about we didn’t score enough, we were so defensive in our mentality, we were not physical enough and could not challenge the top teams and going 22, 17, 20 years without winning away from home in big matches.
“We want to be the best at everything, we want to have the best academy, the best individual development for players, recruit the best players and have the best coaches. That’s the aim and now we have to go and do something else.”
Arsenal will head to Craven Cottage without knee victims Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Arteta was coy on the availability of fellow defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori when facing the media.
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