ARSENAL NEED CLEAN SHEETS

The Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has said that it is extremely vital that Arsenal maintained the good defensive performances that they are putting in the first few weeks of the campaign throughout the rest of the season if they are to win the Premier league title. Arsenal have made a good start to the Premier league season in terms of the defensive record. They have conceded just five goals in the seven matches played so far. One of the main reasons for this has been the form of the German international Per Mertesacker. Arsene Wenger has even gone on to state that leaving out the German in the match against Chelsea was a huge mistake.

The former Werder Bremen defender has been in good form along with the other players in the defence. However, he has said that it is simply not enough that Arsenal show this good form in defence only for the first few weeks of the campaign. He has said that they should maintain this kind of performance throughout the season if they are to win the first Premier league title since 2004. If Arsenal do win a title this season, then it will be their first major title for seven years.

“It can be the difference, it is crucial for us that the defence is winning more than just games. We must try to keep that in our mind the whole year. We have not conceded a lot of goals during games this year, most have been from set pieces. We just need to keep concentrating on our defensive level. The manager told us before the start of the season that we have a lot of good centre-backs and is convinced we can make the team stronger,” said the German international after the 3-1 win over West Ham.