When Arsenal published their team news for the Carabao Cup clash with Brighton at 6.30pm on Wednesday, eyes were drawn to one name more than any other.
Max Dowman’s selection on the right wing made him the youngest player to start a competitive match in Gunners history, aged just 15 years and 302 days.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be delighted with his side’s start to the season (Image credit: Getty Images)
Arsenal have had a near-perfect start to the campaign, winning 12 of their 14 games in all competitions – with the only blemishes a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool in August and their 1-1 home draw with Manchester City in September.
The Gunners have won eight successive matches since the visit of City, helping them build a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League, maintain a perfect record in the Champions League and reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Ethan Nwaneri scored Arsenal’s opening goal against Brighton (Image credit: Getty Images)
And their sparkling form in October saw Arsenal achieve a milestone that has never been done before in English football.
The Gunners’ 2-0 triumph over Brighton saw them become the first English top-flight team to play at least six matches in a month and win every game without letting in a single goal, according to Opta.
Arsenal’s perfect month began with a 2-0 Champions League victory over Olympiacos on October 1, before they beat West Ham United by the same scoreline in the Premier League three days later.
They picked up where they left off after the international break with a 1-0 league win at Fulham on October 18, followed by a 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid in Europe.
The Gunners then overcame Crystal Palace 1-0 in the Premier League last Sunday, before goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka against Brighton secured a sixth successive win to nil.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has not been beaten since September (Image credit: Getty Images)
Arsenal’s excellent defensive record in October means they are already eyeing another significant milestone.
Their six successive shutouts leaves them just two games shy of their club record for consecutive clean sheets, when they kept eight in a row in 1903 across two Second Division campaigns.
But they must avoid conceding in three successive away games to beat that mark, with Premier League trips to Burnley and Sunderland sandwiching a Champions League clash with Slavia Prague in the next nine days.
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