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

After Arsenal beat Chelsea with two goals from corners a couple of weeks ago, Premier League winner Chris Sutton said: "Set-piece Arsenal, again. If they get over the line, will they be the ugliest Premier League-winning team in history?"

“- Published After Arsenal beat Chelsea with two goals from corners a couple of weeks ago, Premier League winner Chris Sutton said: "Set-piece Arsenal, again”

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

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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.

Arsenal boss Arteta said 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."

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

That puts them on course to be the lowest-scoring champions since Leicester City a decade ago (1.79),

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but 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).

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

“- Published After Arsenal beat Chelsea with two goals from corners a couple of weeks ago, Premier League winner Chris Sutton said: "Set-piece Arsenal, again”

BBC

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 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.

Wayne Rooney said: "I actually enjoy watching them play. Set-pieces are part of football - why would you not use it?"

Critics and rivals have debated whether Arsenal's style is a problem, but some managers defend them: Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler revealed he and Arteta had a "good exchange" via text messages and said: "If they win the Premier League, they definitely deserve it."

Everton manager David Moyes defended Arsenal's approach, saying: "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," and adding that managers must "find ways of winning."

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The article notes other historical examples of unglamorous title wins, such as Leicester's 2015-16 season where ten of their 68 goals came from penalties, 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%).

It also records discipline stats: Arsenal have 40 yellow cards in 30 games so far, well below the record 73 bookings Chelsea picked up in total in 2014-15, and the Gunners are in with a chance of becoming just the fourth side to win the Premier League without having a man sent off.