Why Arsenal Is Above Chelsea Despite Both Teams Having Same Points, Same Goal Difference
- Arsenal have been given second place in the Premier League table despite having the same number of statistics as Chelsea
- Both clubs won their games against West Ham and Aston Villa to take them to 25 points and a goal difference of 12
- TUKO.co.ke looks at why Arsenal have been given preference as both sides attempt to chase runaway leaders Liverpool
Game week 13 of the 2024/2025 Premier League season witnessed a seismic shift and offered a clearer picture of the title contenders.
Liverpool opened a nine-point gap at the top of the table after beating the champions Manchester City 2-0 on home turf.
Source: Getty Images
Arsenal and Chelsea are in joint second after huge wins over West Ham and Aston Villa, respectively. The Gunners beat West Ham in a seven-goal thriller in East London, while Chelsea won convincingly against Unai Emery's Villa at Stamford Bridge.
How Premier League table looks like
The result saw both teams climb to 25 points. Fans were, however, interested to note that Arsenal was ranked ahead of Chelsea despite both London clubs having the same points and the same goal difference.
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What are the Premier League tie-breakers?
Teams will be separated by the points they have accumulated as the first tie-breaker. If they have the same points, the goal difference will be the next metric, as captured on the Premier League website.
The goal difference is the sum you get when you subtract the goals a team has conceded from the ones they have scored. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have both scored 26 goals and conceded 14 times leading to the same goal difference of 12.
If teams are tied on the first two, the next metric looked at is which team has scored more goals. Again, there is no daylight here as the rivals have both scored 26 goals.
The next factor in the pecking order is the head-to-head record between the two teams. They played out to an entertaining one-all draw match at Stamford Bridge on November 10, which means they can't be separated there either.
Why Arsenal is above Chelsea on the Premier League
The next thing looked at is the number of away goals scored in the head-to-head game. Given that the match between the two sides was at Chelsea's home turf, Stamford Bridge, Arsenal's goal via Gabriel Martinelli should put them in second place.
However, as GMS' Ben Jacobs explains, it is unfair to use the away goals, given that only one team has played the away game. So, the separation comes down to the alphabet and since 'a' comes before 'c', Arsenal sit in second place for the time being.
What happens when teams are level on everything at the end of the season?
In such a case, the two sides will contest a one-off play-off game at a neutral venue to decide who finishes higher.
What next for Arsenal and Chelsea?
Arsenal have a difficult match on Wednesday when Manchester United, under a new coach, come visiting at the Emirates. Chelsea meanwhile travel to the St.Marys to play Southampton.
Both clubs will have London derbies next week when Arteta's side travel East to play Fulham while Chelsea head North to face Tottenham Hotspur.
Why Chelsea were given free-kick inside Villa's box
Legit.ng has also reported on why Chelsea were given a free-kick inside Aston VIlla's penalty area.
Emi Martinez touched the ball with his hands after a backpass from Pau Torres, forcing referee Stuart Atwell to give them an indirect free-kick.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
