Bukayo Saka praised Arsenal’s defensive display after the Gunners maintained their perfect start to their Premier League title defence with a 1-0 win away at Aston Villa on Monday.
Saka scored the decisive goal at Villa Park as Arsenal secured back-to-back victories, building on their opening-day success against Coventry City.
The breakthrough arrived in the 59th minute when Riccardo Calafiori delivered a dangerous cross, which Saka converted from close range to put Arsenal ahead.
The strike marked Saka’s first time scoring in consecutive Premier League appearances since November 2024. It was also his third league goal against Villa, with all three coming away from the Emirates Stadium.
Despite claiming all three points, Arsenal were not at their best in attack. They registered an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.04 from seven attempts, while Villa produced only 0.33 xG from the same number of shots, with none finding the target.
Arsenal’s defensive record, however, continues to stand out. Since the beginning of March, they have registered eight Premier League clean sheets, three more than any other team. Only Juventus, with nine, have recorded more across Europe’s five major leagues.
Saka highlighted the defensive effort following the victory.
“Very, very tough game. It’s not easy coming here, they made it hard for us. It feels even better to come out with the win,” Saka told Sky Sports.
“The way they defended, really compact and with a high line, they caught us offside. We had to adapt to that.
“Different from what we faced last week, we weren’t able to implement our attacking pattern. One goal is normally enough for us because we are so solid at the back.
“When we got the first one, it actually opened the game up. We wanted to push for the second one. All the full-backs, the way they play gives us a lot.
“For us wingers, it opens up the game for us, we’ve always got composure in the box. We weren’t at our highest level with the ball. Without it, we were incredible.
“As soon as we lost it, we were running back. We knew that they liked to play in transition. All the boys put in a shift tonight. It helps with a clean sheet.”
The result was Arsenal’s 14th Premier League 1-0 victory over the last three seasons, six more than any other club during that period.
The Gunners have also prevented opponents from registering a shot on target in 16 Premier League matches over the past five seasons. That figure is double the total managed by the next-best side, Liverpool, who have done so eight times.
Across the opening two matchdays this season, Arsenal have faced the fewest shots (11), conceded the fewest shots on target (one) and allowed the lowest expected goals figure (0.52), further highlighting their defensive strength.
David Raya also reached a personal milestone, recording his 50th Premier League clean sheet in his 109th appearance for Arsenal. Since joining the club in the 2023-24 campaign, the Spanish goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top five leagues.
Arsenal have now opened a Premier League campaign with two consecutive wins for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, extending the run to five straight campaigns.
Their next challenge comes on Sunday when they face Chelsea, who have also won their opening two league matches while scoring at least three goals in each game for the fourth time, following similar starts in 1936-37, 2010-11 and 2018-19.
However, Saka appeared unfazed by Chelsea’s impressive beginning.
Asked whether he had watched Xabi Alonso’s team this season, Saka replied: “Yeah, I’ve seen them.”
Pressed further on his thoughts about Chelsea’s start, the England international smiled before saying: “We’ll see on Sunday.”
