Gary Neville pays Mikel Arteta and Arsenal ultimate respect with Jose Mourinho claim

Gary Neville has shown respect for how Mikel Arteta is running Arsenal this season, claiming they will come close to breaking a record set by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea 20 years ago

Gary Neville has sung the praises of Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team, noting how he could come close to breaking a record this year.

The former Manchester United defender has been impressed by how Arteta has gone about his business in the 2024/25 campaign – sitting pretty in fourth place in the Premier League with three wins and two draws. Arsenal have conceded just three goals in their first five games – one to Brighton in August and the other two at the weekend to reigning champions Manchester City.

The only team to have conceded fewer than Arsenal in the league are Liverpool – their only clean sheet was stripped by Nottingham Forest in a shock 1-0 loss at Anfield earlier this month. With a star-studded defence made up of the likes of Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba and Jurrien Timber – as well as a hard-hitting Declan Rice and Thomas Partey, sitting just in front – it looks likely that Arsenal are more than capable of preventing goals this season.

And some have questioned whether Arsenal could even go on to set a new record for the least goals conceded in a Premier League campaign. During an interview with Lewis Goodhall and the Sports Agents, Neville was asked: “Comparisons drawn between that famous Chelsea team under Mourinho, who conceded just 15 goals. This Arsenal team, good enough to break that record?”

Neville responded: “Oh I don’t know about that. That’s a pretty amazing record. Top only concede 15 goals in 38 matches is incredible. I still can’t believe to this day that they actually did it. They’ll get close I think, but I don’t think they’ll quite break that record.”

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea set the record for the fewest goals conceded in a single Premier League season back in 2004/05 – with just 15 against them across 38 games. The Blues lifted the Premier League trophy that year with a whopping 95 points and with a goal difference of 57 – thanks largely to Frank Lampard’s 13 contributions from midfield, and Eidur Gudjohnsen and Didier Drogba netting 12 and 10 respectively from up top.

And their defence was incredibly tidy too – legendary goalkeeper Petr Cech enjoying 24 clean sheets, many thanks to the likes of John Terry, William Gallas, Ricardo Carvalho, Robert Huth, Wayne Bridge and Glen Johnson. Meanwhile, the big-tackling Claude Makelele provided an extra layer of defence in midfield.

Arsenal conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League across the 2023/24 campaign, with just 29 goals against them for the entire season – arguably helping them to their second-consecutive second-place finish behind Manchester City. And should Arteta manage to prevent even more this year, the Gunners will be in good stead to lift their first top flight trophy in 21 years.

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