Would Arsenal be ugliest title winners in history? What stats say

March 14, 2026 No Comments

Would Arsenal be ugliest title winners in history? What stats sayImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Arsenal are still in the hunt to become the first English team to win the QuadrupleByChris CollinsonBBC Sport statisticianPublished13 March 2026After Arsenal beat Chelsea with two goals from corners a couple of weeks ago, Premier League winner Chris Sutton mentioned: “Set-piece Arsenal, again. If they get over the line, will they be the ugliest Premier League-winning team in history?”

Eleven-time winner Paul Scholes has also recently claimed that the Gunners could be “the most boring team” to win the title.

Mikel Arteta’s men are seven points clear in the league, in the League Cup final, into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and still in the Champions League, with a favourable side of the draw.

Giving the team the best chance to win is more important than the style of play, according to Arsenal boss Arteta.

He mentioned on Friday: “It’s about playing the best possible football you can, and that the game demands, to give you the best possibility to win the game. That’s it.”

So is the criticism Arsenal receive fair? And if they do go on to win the Premier League, how would their numbers compare to previous winners?

We asked Opta to dig back through the archives to find out.

Arteta doubles down after rivals’ set-piece criticism
‘Ugly’ or ‘beautiful’? Set-pieces prove decisive for Arsenal again
‘Only one team tried to play’ – Hurzeler criticises Arsenal

Arsenal have so far scored 59 goals in 30 Premier League games this season – an average of 1.97 per game.

While that puts them on course to be the lowest-scoring champions since Leicester City a decade ago (1.79), it’s a higher scoring rate than 12 previous title winners, including five Manchester United sides, all three of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea champions – and the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ (1.92).

But when we look at how the goals were scored – from open play or set-pieces – it seems that Arsenal’s critics have more of a point.

Of the 59 goals that the Gunners have scored so far, 24 of them have come from set-pieces (41%) – a far higher percentage than any Premier League champion.

It is perhaps ironic that Sutton and Scholes have criticised Arsenal’s style of play given they played for the two title-winning sides that previously relied most on set-pieces to score.

Sutton’s Blackburn of 1994-95 and Scholes’ Man Utd of 2007-08 both scored 80 goals on their way to winning the title, with 35% – the record high – of them coming from dead-ball situations (28).

Arsenal fans might say such a high percentage simply shows how excellent their team is from set-pieces rather than how blunt they have been in open play.

But the Gunners have so far scored just 1.17 goals per game from open play – and the only title winner to score as few in that manner was the Manchester United side that won the first Premier League back in 1992-93.

Having mentioned all that, is scoring from set-pieces inherently ugly? Wayne Rooney does not think so.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, external this week, the five-time champion mentioned: “I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and how they’re playing. I think Arsenal have been brilliant.

“I actually enjoy watching them play. Set-pieces are part of football – why would you not use it?”

One of Arsenal’s most notable critics has been Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, before and after his side’s 1-0 loss to the Gunners earlier this month.

He revealed on Friday that he and Arteta have had a “good exchange” via text messages, where “he shared his opinion and I shared mine”.

“That is what football is about, everyone defending their side,” mentioned Hurzeler, who also told Arteta “I have huge respect for everyone at Arsenal”.

“If they win the Premier League, they definitely deserve it,” added the German.

Arsenal still have a chance of winning all four major trophies this season and host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Arteta spent five years as player for Everton under the Toffees’ current manager David Moyes, who also defended Arsenal’s approach.

Arteta mentioned he has spoken with Moyes “a few times” this season and has “massive gratitude” for the veteran Scottish boss who he called “one of the greatest Premier League managers”.

“You are making it sound as if it’s a problem because they are good at set-pieces and they are a strong, physical side,” Moyes mentioned. “I don’t see any problem. It’s part of the game.”

He added: “You have seen Mikel over a few years, he has got dark arts, like we have all had to have at different times because you are desperate for your team to win.

“You have got to find ways of winning, that’s part of the job. You can play as good as you like, but winning is the thing that really matters.”

Even if people disagree, there are other ways of ‘winning ugly’ that Premier League champions have used in the past.

As miraculous as their title win was, Leicester’s football in 2015-16 was not always pretty.

Ten of their 68 goals came from the penalty spot, they had the fewest shots and touches in the opposition box on record and 14 of their 23 wins were by a single goal (61%).

And while ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ is a well-known chant, only five of their 20 wins this season have been by that scoreline – far fewer than the 11 Chelsea eked out in 2004-05 or the 10 that Manchester United achieved in 2008-09.

And for all the talk of the dark arts, the Gunners are not playing dirty in the traditional sense.

Their 40 yellow cards in 30 games so far puts them well below the record 73 bookings that Chelsea picked up in total in 2014-15, while the Gunners are in with a chance of becoming just the fourth side to win the Premier League without having a man sent off.

So, while Arsenal are hardly Barcelona 2008-09, the football they are playing and the way their goals are being scored are not huge departures from some previous title-winning sides.

Even those that some of the fiercest critics played in.

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