Gunners

What a day it turned out to be for boyhood Arsenal fan Eze.

Before the match Tottenham manager Thomas Frank joked “who?” when questioned about how close Eze was to becoming a Spurs player in the summer. Those words certainly came back to haunt him.

A first senior hat-trick is a big landmark in itself, let alone a first treble in Premier League north London derby history.

Eze signed for Arsenal in a deal worth £67m and is starting to cement himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for manager Mikel Arteta.

When he signed for the Gunners there were questions about where he would fit into the side but, after an injury to captain Odegaard, Eze has taken his opportunity with both hands.

The 27-year-old has taken time to settle as he got used to a different role in this Arsenal team than the one he was used to at Crystal Palace, but he has already started to deliver big moments.

He provided an excellent pass for Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time equaliser against City, scored the winner against Palace and now has a first senior hat-trick against rivals Tottenham.

Eze provides something different to the rest of the Arsenal forwards and his unpredictability adds another edge to Arsenal’s forward line.

The Gunners have another two big games coming up, with matches against Bayern Munich and Chelsea, but Eze will relish the challenge given the form he is now in.

“That’s him. He had two days off after the England camp and after day one he wanted to train,” Arteta said.

“He wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have such a talent and such an intelligence and then you add that willingness to be better and practise, these things happen.

“When I spoke to Thomas Tuchel (about him) I said how good is he? He said to me one of the best I have seen. I rate him one of the best in terms of talent. If we add in now his work rate, willingness to play for this team and the joy I sense when he is the building we have a special player there.”

No English player has been involved in more goals that Eze in 2025 in the Premier League. Only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Antoine Semenyo (18) been involved in more Premier League goals than the Arsenal number 10 (18 – 10 goals, eight assists).

“I know how much this move from Crystal Palace meant to him and what a performance from him. Best player on the pitch,” former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“This is where his Arsenal career takes off.”

There is some fierce competition for that crown but, statistically, the Gunners are right up there.

Nearly a third of the way through the campaign, they are conceding 0.45 goals per game. If they maintain that rate they will concede 17 goals over the 38 games.

Chelsea’s 2004-05 title-winning side hold the record at 15, with Arsenal’s vintage in 1998-99 conceding 17, but finishing trophyless.

The next tightest defence is the 2007-08 Manchester United side and Liverpool in 2018-19, who both conceded 22 goals.

There is a long way still to go for Arsenal, but if the backline of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori – with keeper David Raya behind them – stay fit and solid, then they’ve got every chance of being talked about among this quartet.

That is a big if though, with fears Gabriel could be sidelined until January after being injured on Brazil duty, while Italy international Calafiori also has a problem that needs to be assessed.

The Gunners also have the best defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues this term, with the fewest goals conceded, fewest shots on target faced and most clean sheets.

They have allowed only 21 shots on target in the Premier League this season, including three across their last five matches. Their average of 1.9 shots on target faced per game is the lowest since Opta’s records began in 2003-04.

You have to go back to September and October 1987 for the last time Arsenal bettered this season’s record of four successive league games without letting in a goal.

That came under manager George Graham in an era that inspired the famous “1-0 to the Arsenal” chant to serenade a team with the kind of defensive resilience that Arteta’s men are replicating.

Sunderland’s strikes, from Dan Ballard and an injury-time Brian Brobbey equaliser, denied them the chance to beat Manchester United’s Premier League record of 14 consecutive clean sheets, achieved back in 2008-09.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are the record holders for clean sheets in the Premier League era across all competitions, having gone 11 straight games without conceding under Rafael Benitez in 2005-06.

Former Arsenal centre-back Martin Keown, who was part of the club’s 1998-99 side, wrote in his BBC Sport column: “We can see with our own eyes how good the defence is.

“The only thing missing from their CV is trophies.

“If they could be champions, they reach that elite level alongside these past title-winning teams.”