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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Mikel Arteta may have discovered Arsenal's 'lucky charm' after Edu's £33.8m transfer success

Arsenal will be looking to round off the perfect week when they face Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners go into the game at the Emirates Stadium on the back of successive wins over Sheffield United and Slavia Prague in the Premier League and Europa League respectively.

Arsenal 's reward for the latter victory is a place in the semi-final of the competition where they'll face Unai Emery's Villarreal over two legs.

Over the past week, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka, Emile Smith Rowe, and Nicolas Pepe have all caught the eye as they've stepped up when Mikel Arteta has needed it the most.

However, what has caught the eye of some Arsenal supporters on Reddit is the fact the side have kept back-to-back clean sheets.

Prior to the 3-0 win over Sheffield United, the Gunners had gone 14 games across all competitions without keeping a shutout, so to keep two in the space of four days has been met with optimism.

Interestingly, a lot of the praise has fallen at the feet of Pablo Mari.

The Spaniard has been partnered by Rob Holding in the last two games, prompting some fans to suggest he is partly the reason for the back-to-back clean sheets.

DaDinklesIsMyJamElneny said: "Mari is solid. It’s a shame that we can’t play him and Gabriel together."

Echo361 said: "Mari makes holding way better as well."

savindrarathoreTierney said: "Don Pablo."

Pablo Mari initially joined Arsenal on loan from Flamengo last January before earning a permanent transfer - worth a reported £6.8m - in the summer window.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Magalhaes also arrived from Lille for £27m to further increase the number of centre-backs at Arteta's disposal as technical director Edu provided another left-footed option for the Gunners boss.

So after splashing out £33.8m on two new centre-backs, Arteta might have just discovered Arsenal's 'lucky charm' when it comes to keeping clean sheets.

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