Why are Arsenal ahead of Chelsea on Premier League points table despite the teams sharing identical stats

There's a question on a lot of fans' mind to why the Gunners are ahead of the Blues even though both teams share identical records. Many feel, it's because of the alphabetical order but that's not the reason.

Arsenal and Chelsea share identical Premier League stats after Gameweek 13. (AP)

In one of the rarest of rare visuals in football, Chelsea and Arsenal have identical statistics in the Premier League table after Gameweek 13.

Both teams now have played 13 matches, won seven, drawn four, lost two as well as scored 26 goals and conceded 12 in the league.

In their last matches, Arsenal smashed West Ham 5-2 while Chelsea blew away Aston Villa 3-0. They are now 21nd and 3rd in the table with Arsenal above Chelsea.

Arsenal and Chelsea are having identical Premier League seasons 🤝 pic.twitter.com/B20OEzzmMC

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 2, 2024

But there’s a question on a lot of fans’ mind to why the Gunners are ahead of the Blues even though both teams share identical records. Many feel, it’s because of the alphabetical order but that’s not the reason.

The actual reason is a Premier League rule which states that in order to separate two teams who have the same points, the goal difference will first come to play. If the goal difference is also same, the amount of goals scored will be looked at. In case that also fails to separate the two sides, the team which has collected the most points during their matches will be calculated.

Due to Chelsea and Arsenal drawing their match 1-1, this was also not enough to separate the sides. Therby a little-known Premier League rule has been implemented here with the team that scores the most away goals in head to head encounters between the two side will be favoured.

With Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli scoring the goal vs Chelsea in Stamford Bridge this season and Chelsea having not yet played at the Emirates this season, the Gunners are temporarily ahead in the points table over their London rivals.

No, the reason is due to a Premier League ruling with regard to separating teams level on points, as the first method to split them should be goal difference, followed by goals scored, followed by which team collected the most points during matches between the two sides.