Arsenal’s rearguard resilience saw them move three points clear at the Premier League’s summit this weekend, as Mikel Arteta’s men secured a statement victory at Anfield.

The Gunners produced a dogged display to run out 1-0 winners on Sunday, with their backline unbreached despite Liverpool’s 17 attempts at goal – none of which were on target.

It wasn’t the only strong defensive showing from a Merseyside outfit, either, as Everton beat Newcastle United for the second time in a matter of days (1-0) to wrap up Gameweek 9 last night.

In fact, there were a whole host of clean sheets across the division, including five in Saturday’s bumper slate of eight fixtures.

Chelsea set the tone in the early kick-off by beating Manchester United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, to heap further pressure on under-fire manager Michael Carrick.

Bournemouth and Brentford then registered shut-outs in 2-0 wins against Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, respectively, while Brighton delivered the result of the round – taking all three points off Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium (1-0).

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Pierre Sage’s floundering Crystal Palace outfit 1-0, too, thanks in part to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 13th-minute red card.

Surprisingly, only three games saw both sides get on the scoresheet, which may explain some of the impressive defensive numbers produced by top-flight players over the past few days.

Read on to discover who made their mark during Gameweek 9, in a selection of key statistical categories…

Premier League Most Tackles: Top trio fail to win despite defensive endeavours

For all the talk of clean sheets, the Premier League’s top three tacklers this weekend came from teams who conceded at least once.

Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace) and Murillo (Nottingham Forest) both ended up on the losing side despite making six challenges apiece, though it was better news for Tim Iroegbunam (also six tackles) with Hull City drawing 2-2 at home to Ipswich Town – a game in which he also scored the Tigers’ opener.

Just behind that trio were four players tied on five tackles each. Perhaps the most impressive inclusion here is Brighton’s Chema Andrés, who reached that figure despite only featuring for 64 minutes against Manchester City.

He is joined by triumphant duo Roméo Lavia (Chelsea) and Ezri Konsa (Arsenal) after their aforementioned victories over Manchester United and Liverpool.

Talking of the Reds, Jérémy Jacquet also made five tackles, continuing his impressive first season at Anfield – even if his efforts went unrewarded on this occasion.

Premier League Most Interceptions: West Londoners enjoy successful weekend

Plenty of neutrals were expecting a home victory for Aston Villa on Saturday evening, but Fulham more than deserved a point in their 1-1 draw with Unai Emery’s in-form side.

The Whites had to dig in at times, though, with summer recruit David Affengruber at the forefront of their rearguard action.

He made a league-leading five interceptions at Villa Park, alongside three fellow defenders in Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Wesley Fofana (Chelsea) and Vitaly Janelt (Brentford).

It was a good weekend on the interceptions front for West London representatives, then, with three of those four coming from clubs in that part of the capital and each of the trio winning or drawing.

Chelsea’s Lavia was only just behind on four interceptions – the second category he has performed well in – as was Brighton centre-back Luka Vušković.

The Croatian is a regular inclusion in these defensive leaderboard articles, such has been his impact since making the £46million move from Tottenham to the Seagulls in July.

Premier League Most Clearances: Affengruber attracts attention for commanding display

Interceptions wasn’t the only category in which Fulham’s Affengruber excelled during Gameweek 9 – he also topped the charts for most clearances with 11 against Aston Villa.

No other player could match that figure but three came close with ten clearances each, including former Cottager Issa Diop (Ipswich Town).

The Tractor Boys defender was joined by Ethan Pinnock (Coventry City) and Tarik Muharemović (Leeds United), ahead of five players on nine apiece.

Ronald Araújo made the cut, continuing his commendable stint at right-back for Liverpool, as did Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer.

Three further players reached nine interceptions, but it will be little consolation as they all ended up on the losing side this weekend – Omar Alderete (Sunderland), Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) and Jaydee Canvot (Crystal Palace).

Premier League Most Aerial Duels Won: Branthwaite states case for England inclusion

Jarrad Branthwaite has built his reputation on being an aerial colossus – and he was a dominant presence once again at St James’ Park yesterday evening.

The 24-year-old won a sky-high 11 aerial duels, which was two more than any other player this weekend and helped his team to a commendable 1-0 win over Newcastle.

Branthwaite was named in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad ahead of the previous international break, featuring against Spain and Czechia in the 2026/27 Nations League.

And he can harbour hopes of being included once again for the Three Lions’ games later this month, based on this commanding showing on Tyneside.

Elsewhere, Leeds United star Muharemović won nine aerial duels (and an equivalent number of headed clearances), Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk was just behind on eight and powerful Sunderland frontman Brian Brobbey registered seven.

Three further players managed a respectable six successful aerial battles – Diego Gómez (Brighton), Dan Burn (Newcastle) and Araújo (Liverpool).

Premier League Most Defensive Third Regains: Brentford pair key to Bees’ three-point haul

There is a degree of parity when it comes to most defensive third regains during Gameweek 9, with the Premier League’s top four performers all tied on six possessions won in defensive areas.

Notably, two of those players were from Brentford in left-back Keane Lewis-Potter and central defender Sepp van den Berg.

The pair played key roles as Keith Andrews’ men beat Nottingham Forest and secured a home clean sheet (2-0), despite the visitors having 15 shots to their seven.

Murillo (Nottingham Forest) reached six defensive third regains in the same game, with Chelsea’s Josh Acheampong joining him on that figure.

Six players were just behind on five, including goalkeepers Jordan Pickford (Everton) and Antonín Kinský (Tottenham Hotspur), alongside Jaouen Hadjam (Brighton), Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Lavia (Chelsea) and Jacquet (Liverpool).