It's obvious why Arsenal stand as many people's favorites to win the Premier League during this term.
Consider their outcomes against Newcastle and Crystal Palace versus those identical matches in the previous campaign.
The Gunners have defeated all of them in the current season, but dropped 10 points across those games as they faded in the title race last season.
Impenetrable Backline
Arsenal's backline resilience is a primary factor why they are looking well positioned to ultimately achieve their title ambition.
They stand first for clean sheets (6), shots let in (3), shots faced (72), shots on target faced (19) and expected goals against (5.3).
The defensive partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba is potentially the best in the league, with Arsenal recording a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Dead-Ball Superiority
Their effectiveness from free kicks is well known, but competing clubs still don't know how to contain the Gunners from these chances.
They have scored 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 fear factor. People are just fearful of them and it is wonderful to see."
Title Claims
What is even more impressive about Arsenal's commencement 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 ahead by four points at the top.
While they maintain victories, their historic competitors aren't faring so well. This marks the premier instance at this juncture 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 head coach Mikel Arteta at the outset, having invested around £250m on eight summer signings in search of that elusive first title since 2004.
But the investment has so far yielded results in impressive fashion, with his side second top scorers in the league and boasting the most resilient defense, despite numerous injuries.
- Unbreached games 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 all competitions
Former players and pundits have described Arteta's men as a "unstoppable force, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now functioning with belief and purpose.
