It's clear why Arsenal have become many people's favorites to claim the Premier League in the current campaign.
Consider their results against Newcastle and Crystal Palace versus those identical matches in the previous campaign.
The Gunners have overcome all of them in the current season, but lost 10 points across those games as they faded in the title race previously.
Defensive Prowess
Arsenal's backline resilience is a crucial element why they are appearing strong to at last realize their title ambition.
They lead the league for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), attempts against (72), shots on target faced (19) and xGA (5.3).
The defensive partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba is possibly the strongest in the league, with Arsenal maintaining a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Set-Piece Expertise
Their danger from dead balls is highly documented, but competing clubs still don't know how to contain the Gunners from these chances.
They have registered 11 times from set-pieces in the league, a couple extra than any other side, with 69% of their goals originating from these situations.
"Arsenal can excel in various aspects now. The whole team has a intimidation presence. People are just wary of them and it is great to see."
Title Claims
What is even more notable about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also encountered Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United on the road and Manchester City at home - and are still leading by four at the top.
While they keep winning, their historic competitors face difficulties. This marks the premier instance at this point of the season since 1992 that none of Manchester City and United, Liverpool or Chelsea are in the Premier League top four.
The expectations was on boss Mikel Arteta at the start, having allocated around £250m on eight summer additions in search of that long-awaited first title since 2004.
But the business has so far yielded results in impressive fashion, with his side among the highest scorers in the league and boasting the tightest defense, despite numerous injuries.
- Unbreached games in each of their last three Premier League games
- 385 minutes without conceding a goal
- Only three goals in 12 games across every tournament
Former players and pundits have described Arteta's men as a "unstoppable force, looking difficult to stop" with the whole club now performing with belief and purpose.
