On Saturday, we travel to Chelsea with the hope of maintaining our unblemished start to the year while also making a small contribution to English league history.
We have won each of our three away games so far this season. The winning streak started at Crystal Palace, where a Martin Odegaard penalty and a Leandro Trossard goal defeated Everton.
Then, with a fine 4-0 victory over Bournemouth, we were able to keep up our perfect defensive record on the road.
The other time was in 1995–96, when we ironically lost 1-0 at Chelsea in our fourth away game of that season.
This is the only other time we have kept a clean sheet in our first three away league games.
We would thus become the first team in top-flight history to win each of their first four away games in a season without conceding if we left Stamford Bridge this weekend with the three points and another clean sheet.
The following teams have won their first three away games in the top division without conceding.
- 1970–1971 Leeds United.
- Manchester United in 1975–1976.
- 1987–1988 Queens Park Rangers.Chelsea, 2005–2006.
- 2015–16 season for Manchester City.
- 2020–21 Aston Villa season.
- 2023–24 for Arsenal.
Whether we manage another shutout or not, we have only twice in our history—in 1903–04 and 2004–05—earned all possible points from our first four away games.
As we try for our fourth straight victory at the Blues’ stadium, the signs point to a successful outcome.
We could become the first team since Watford in the 1980s to string together four straight victories as an away side at the Bridge, which in and of itself is a remarkable accomplishment.
Since the beginning of the previous season, there have been many memorable away days for our fans to choose from, so they will be hoping for another one on Saturday.
We have surpassed every other Premier League team during that time period in terms of the number of points (48) and games (15) we have won away from home.
During this time, we have kept the most road clean sheets (13), allowed the fewest away goals (18) compared to any other ever-present team.
Mikel Arteta should take heart from the fact that we have kept more clean sheets this year—four—and given up fewer goals—six—than any of our Premier League competitors.
Should our defense hold strong against the Blues, we may well break this record.
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