Arsenal have the seventh-best opening day record in the Premier League over the last 10 years.
The Premier League kicks-off in under two weeks time, which means it’s time to look at each team’s opening day record and rank them from best to worst. That’s what the Daily Star did, as they’ve ranked everyone’s opening day record over the last 10 years.
Surprisingly, Arsenal don’t have the worst record. The Gunners rank seventh, with four wins, three draws and three defeats on opening days in the past decade.
It doesn’t look bad on paper, but looking at each individual result reveals Arsenal’s record is getting worse by the year. Those three defeats occurred in the last four years, all at home.
- 2013/14, Arsenal lost 3-1 to Aston Villa
- 2015/16, Arsenal lost 2-1 to West Ham
- 2016/17, Arsenal lost 4-3 to Liverpool
Two of the three opening-day draws happened in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
It so happens that Arsenal’s terrible record in the last six years coincides with them going on long pre-season tours to Asia, the United States or Australia. Arsene Wenger has cited this as a reason why teams can have slow starts.
Unfortunately, such an excuse falls apart when you see that the best starters are Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City – all teams that go on long pre-season tours.
Arsenal begin the season against Leicester, who have won six of their last 10 opening day fixtures.