The bizarre reason why Arsenal are above Chelsea in Premier League table despite being level on every metric

12/01/2024 01:42 PM

Arsenal are second in the Premier League table after this weekend’s football, simply because of their name.

The Gunners sit level on points with Chelsea after Gameweek 13 following Enzo Maresca’s side’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

A victory for the Blues at Stamford Bridge moved them only 25 points for the season, which is the same as Mikel Arteta‘s men.

They moved up to that tally after an enthralling clash with West Ham that saw them win 5-2 with all goals coming in the first half.

At many points throughout the Premier League season, teams will be level on points in the table.

So what’s so different in this case?

Well, Arsenal and Chelsea are actually matching in all departments.

Usually, a team would sit above another on the same points thanks to goal difference.

However, the two London rivals have exactly the same (12), while they also have the exact same goals scored (26).

That means we have a very rare situation on our hands and we have to delve deeper into the Premier League rules.

They state: “If any clubs finish with the same number of points, their position in the Premier League table is determined by goal difference, then the number of goals scored, then the team who collected the most points in the head-to-head matches, then who scored most away goals in the head-to-head.”

For Arsenal and Chelsea, they drew 1-1 in their only meeting of the campaign so far last month.

So, they can’t be separated by their head-to-head record either.

And because both of their fixtures haven’t been played yet, the ‘most away goals in the head-to-head’ rule isn’t applicable.

That is because it would be unfair to give one team an advantage when the other hasn’t played the meeting away from home.

It means that both clubs have had the same season in every metric.

Therefore, it then comes down to the alphabet.

A is, of course, before C in alphabetical order and Arsenal benefit from it, only sitting above Chelsea due to that rule.

This is a very rarely seen situation and it’s incredible to see two teams virtually having the exact same campaign so far.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea have seven wins from their first 13, drawing four and losing two.

It’s likely that they’ll be separated in midweek, though, as the Gunners face Manchester United and the Blues host Southampton.

Unless they incredibly finish with the exact same score…