Arsenal’s November curse is no myth: History suggests Arsene Wenger’s men suffer a rough ride during the month
Arsenal began November joint top of the Premier League with Manchester City, a day after swaggering to a 3-0 victory away at Swansea and not much more than a week after beating Bayern Munich to reignite their Champions League hopes.
Arsene Wenger's men had picked up five league wins on the bounce, Mesut Ozil was producing some of his best form to date in an Arsenal shirt and the Gunners' title charge was in full throttle.
Yet supporters with long memories would have been wary of planning any parties – November has been labelled the most troublesome month under Wenger by frustrated fans.
And it's not just a hunch. We crunched the numbers and since the Frenchman arrived in north London in 1996, Arsenal average 1.6 points per game played November – 0.3 points per game lower than any other month.
Read more: Arsenal sick list grows with Coquelin and Arteta injuries
This season hasn't proved to be any different. Arsenal began the month with a 5-1 thumping in Munich, then missed out on the rare opportunity to go top of the league after drawing with Tottenham and last weekend slumped to a 2-1 loss at West Brom in which Francis Coquelin suffered an injury likely to keep him out for two months.
So far this November, Arsenal average 0.5 points per Premier League game, compared to a season average of two points per game.
Arsenal have had a below-par November in six of the last 10 seasons and 12 of their 20 under Wenger.
In total Arsenal have played 75 games, won 36, drawn 15 and lost 25 – a 47 per cent win ratio.
What is it about November, when new signings would surely have had time to settle and familiarise themselves with the team's tactics, that has proved so difficult for Arsenal?
Injuries seem to be a perennial problem for Wenger, yet in the last 10 years Arsenal have suffered injuries more commonly in the first five months of the season than after Christmas.
According to data from PhysioRoom.co.uk, Arsenal players have been injured on 80 separate occasions in November over the last 10 season – only August (87) and December (83) have been more costly, while October (80) and September (79) have also been damaging months.
November will also typically feature two Champions League group stage games and possibly a League Cup tie to contend with on top of league commitments.
To see when Arsenal's Novembers have been particularly damaging, explore the graphs below which demonstrate an above or below average points-per-game performance.
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