Arsenal top the Premier League in one area but it might actually come to haunt them

Arsenal have developed a reputation for being an exceptionally hard-working team under Mikel Arteta, but this might actually prove to harm them in the long run.

The Gunners have established themselves as the best defensive side in the world. Not only can they defend by controlling possession, but they're also impressive at defending without the ball by sitting in a compact low block.

When they want to, they're an exceptional pressing team, while they're also capable of dropping into their defensive shape extremely rapidly after losing possession. All around, their defensive organisation and tenacity are unparalleled and utterly unique for a top team.

The criticism that is often levelled at Arteta's side is their inability to generate sufficient chances going forward. However, as shown by their large number of open-play goals so far this season, that might not actually be the issue.

Instead, it could be their hard-working, functional style that derails them over the course of the season.

Arsenal lead the Premier League for distance covered this season

Unsurprisingly, Arsenal top the Premier League table for distance covered this season. The Gunners run 119.4 km per match, almost an entire kilometre more than the next most athletic side in the division (via FotMob).

Arteta's men are so hard-working and athletic that they push themselves to cover every blade of grass in a match, and this is the key foundation behind their defensive success.

Interestingly, many of their close rivals rank much lower in this metric, which might actually explain why this perceived strength could prove to be a weakness.

This could lead to their downfall

Manchester City currently rank 19th in the league for distance covered per match, while Liverpool are rock bottom, Manchester United are 16th, Tottenham are 15th and Chelsea are 14th.

The sides with greater resources and that traditionally finish near the top of the league are running significantly less than Arsenal. Clearly, covering distance doesn't necessarily correlate to success.

In fact, with Arsenal being such an anomaly in this regard, it might explain why the Gunners tend to burn out later in the season more than most of their competitors. In the short term, working hard almost defenitely benefits Arteta's team and will be a huge factor behind their defensive resilience.

However, as the season wears on, Arteta's players wear out, and the Gunners suffer. If the Spaniard keeps pushing his players so hard, this could easily come back to bite them later in the season, just like it did last term.

He may want to temper his bullish approach just a little.

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