Arsenal: 4 positive takeaways from Southampton win

3. Best Home Form in the Premier League

Last season was excruciating. Teams would come to the Emirates and treat it like a playground, not a fortress. The likes of Burnley waltzed into Arsenal’s back garden fearing nothing.

It’s evident that teams still don’t have that fear factor when they come to north London, and likely won’t for a while, but accruing the joint-best home form in the Premier League could go some way to remedying that.

Arsenal had to solve their troublesome home form this season. Too many points were dropped in the race for the top four last term, with notable matches like Burnley, Fulham and Everton fine examples of where a bit more steel at the Emirates could have completely altered the landscape.

Granted, the away form is suffering, and while the teams Arsenal have beaten at home have all been games that slot neatly into the ‘winnable’ categories, it’s nonetheless starting to build some momentum on the hallowed turf.

You can only beat what’s in front of you, and with this young group of players they seem to flourish best when they’ve got the fans on their side. This has to be judged by what they do up and down the country and not against strugglers at home, but on the list of tasks before the season began, making the Emirates a ground teams didn’t want to go to was high up on there.

West Ham will be the real test.

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