It's evident why Arsenal stand as many people's favorites to win the Premier League this season.
Consider their performances against Fulham and Crystal Palace versus those same matches in the previous campaign.
The Gunners have overcome all of them this time around, but dropped 10 points across those games as they dropped off in the title race in the prior campaign.
Defensive Dominance
Arsenal's backline resilience is a primary factor why they are appearing strong to finally fulfil their title ambition.
They rank top for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), opposition efforts (72), shots on target faced (19) and xGA (5.3).
The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is potentially the finest in the league, with Arsenal keeping a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Dead-Ball Dominance
Their threat from set-pieces is highly documented, but competing clubs still don't know how to contain the Gunners from these situations.
They have notched 11 times from set-pieces in the league, several additional than any other side, with 69% of their goals coming from these situations.
"Arsenal can excel in various aspects now. The whole team has a daunting aura. People are just wary of them and it is great to see."
Championship Pedigree
What is particularly impressive about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also encountered Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United away from home and Manchester City at home - and are still ahead by four points at the top.
While they keep winning, their traditional rivals aren't faring so well. This marks the initial occasion at this stage 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 start, having spent around £250m on eight summer additions in search of that elusive first title since 2004.
But the spending has so far yielded results in impressive fashion, with his side among the highest scorers in the league and having the tightest defense, despite multiple injuries.
- Clean sheets in three consecutive Premier League games
- Over six hours without conceding a goal
- Only a handful of concessions in 12 games across every tournament
Former players and experts have described Arteta's men as a "juggernaut, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now performing with conviction and determination.
