It's evident why Arsenal have become many people's favorites to claim the Premier League during this term.
Consider their outcomes against West Ham and Crystal Palace in contrast with those identical matches in the previous campaign.
The Gunners have defeated all of them in the current season, but surrendered 10 points across those games as they dropped off in the title race in the prior campaign.
Impenetrable Rearguard
Arsenal's backline resilience is a crucial element why they are appearing strong to at last realize their title ambition.
They stand first for shutouts (6), goals allowed (3), attempts against (72), shots on target faced (19) and anticipated concessions (5.3).
The center-back duo of Gabriel and William Saliba is potentially the strongest in the league, with Arsenal maintaining a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Dead-Ball Superiority
Their danger from dead balls is highly documented, but competing clubs still don't know how to contain the Gunners from these opportunities.
They have registered 11 times from set-pieces in the league, two more than any other side, with 69% of their goals resulting 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 wonderful to see."
Championship Claims
What is especially impressive about Arsenal's commencement to the campaign is they have also played Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United away from home and Manchester City in their own stadium - and are still four points clear at the top.
While they continue triumphing, their long-standing opponents 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 scrutiny was on boss Mikel Arteta at the start, having invested around £250m on eight summer acquisitions in pursuit of that elusive first title since 2004.
But the spending has so far proven successful in impressive fashion, with his side second top scorers in the league and having the strongest defense, despite several injuries.
- Clean sheets in each of their last three Premier League games
- Nearly 6.5 hours without allowing a goal
- Only a handful of concessions in 12 games across various contests
Former players and analysts have described Arteta's men as a "powerhouse, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now functioning with confidence and purpose.
