The stats show no team in the Premier League ran more than Arsenal this weekend despite their disappointing opening day defeat to Manchester City.
The Gunners were beaten 2-0 by City at the Emirates Stadium as new manager Unai Emery took charge of his first competitive game for the club since replacing Arsene Wenger in the summer.
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While this was far from an ideal start for the new man in charge, it’s worth noting the scale of the job on his hands, particularly against such quality opposition.
And yet, it seems Emery’s new tactics may be working as his players covered more distance than any other team over the weekend.
Sky Sports show this in the graphic below, with Tottenham in second place, with Newcastle and Manchester City very close behind, followed by Huddersfield Town and Chelsea.
Graphic: No team covered more distance than Arsenal (118.0km) on the opening weekend of the new PL season. [Sky] #afc pic.twitter.com/tpxmWa3uj6
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 14, 2018
Of course, Gooners will want more than their team to just be running and working hard, but that’s one area they were arguably lacking in under Wenger.
Known for playing pretty football but for buckling when it mattered most, it would be a welcome change if Emery could make Arsenal better at battling against top sides like City.
Despite the poor result, this stat should leave fans fairly optimistic about what’s to come for the club under their new boss.
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