Arsenal closed the gap with Premier League leaders Liverpool to just four points by beating Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners struggled against the Foxes’ low block for much of the encounter in the East Midlands.
However, Arsenal eventually run out 2-0 winners courtesy of two late Mikel Merino goals.
Merino’s emergence as a striker option will dominate the narrative over the next week, but a remarkable statistic that highlights how good Mikel Arteta’s team have actually been in recent months should be the major talking point.
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Arsenal’s win over Leicester makes this their longest unbeaten run since 2011
Arsenal fans were delighted by Merino’s performance at the King Power Stadium, but they’ll arguably be more encouraged by what the victory represents.
Since losing to Newcastle at St. James Park in November, the Gunners haven’t lost a single Premier League game.
That’s a run that spans 15 matches, of which Arteta’s men have won ten and drawn five.
Surprisingly, this is Arsenal’s longest unbeaten run in the league since April 2011 under Arsene Wenger.
Scoring 34 goals and conceding just 11 in this stretch, it’s certainly been an impressive patch of the season for the North Londoners, despite the significant adversity they’ve faced.
Injury issues for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori, and recently Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli, could’ve derailed them, but instead Arsenal have stood strong and continued to deliver competent results.
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Mikel Merino should be Arsenal’s new striker
While the set of results they’ve produced is impressive, Arsenal have some difficult fixtures coming up, and have very few offensive options to pick from.
The Gunners were lackluster while Leandro Trossard led the line, and Raheem Sterling was dreadful on the left-wing.
However, they may have found a new striker in the form of Merino to take them forward into games against the likes of Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Spaniard provided Arsenal with a real focal point up top, with his physicality and ability to hold the ball up not a strong part of Trossard’s game.
Taking both of his goals excellently, Arteta has to give the Euro 2024 winner an opportunity to build on this display next week against West Ham.
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