There's no doubt why Arsenal stand as many people's top picks to claim the Premier League during this term.
Look at their results against Newcastle and Crystal Palace compared to those identical matches last season.
The Gunners have defeated all of them this time around, but surrendered 10 points across those games as they fell away in the title race in the prior campaign.
Defensive Dominance
Arsenal's backline resilience is a crucial element why they are appearing strong to finally fulfil their title target.
They stand first for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), opposition efforts (72), quality opportunities against (19) and expected goals against (5.3).
The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is arguably the best in the league, with Arsenal keeping a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Dead-Ball Dominance
Their effectiveness from free kicks is widely recognized, but opposition teams still don't know how to contain the Gunners from these situations.
They have notched 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 fearful of them and it is wonderful to see."
Championship Pedigree
What is particularly impressive about Arsenal's commencement to the campaign is they have also faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United at opposition grounds and Manchester City in their own stadium - and are still ahead by four points at the top.
While they keep winning, their long-standing opponents 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 manager Mikel Arteta at the outset, having invested around £250m on eight summer signings in pursuit of that elusive first title since 2004.
But the spending has so far proven successful in style, with his side one of the most prolific attacks in the league and boasting the most resilient defense, despite several injuries.
- Clean sheets in three straight Premier League games
- Nearly 6.5 hours without allowing a goal
- Only a trio of goals in 12 games across various contests
Former players and pundits have described Arteta's men as a "unstoppable force, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now functioning with conviction and determination.
