It's obvious why Arsenal stand as many people's favorites to win the Premier League this season.
Look at their results against Fulham and Crystal Palace versus those same matches last season.
The Gunners have defeated all of them this time around, but dropped 10 points across those games as they fell away in the title race in the prior campaign.
Defensive Strength
Arsenal's defensive strength is a key reason why they are appearing strong to ultimately achieve their title ambition.
They rank top for unbreached games (6), shots let in (3), shots faced (72), shots on target faced (19) and xGA (5.3).
The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is possibly the best in the league, with Arsenal maintaining a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.
Set-Piece Mastery
Their danger from dead balls is widely recognized, but rival sides still don't know how to stop the Gunners from these opportunities.
They have notched 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 do a bit of everything now. The whole team has a intimidation presence. People are just afraid of them and it is excellent to see."
Championship Pedigree
What is even more impressive about Arsenal's commencement to the campaign is they have also encountered Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United at opposition grounds and Manchester City in their own stadium - and are still four points clear at the top.
While they continue triumphing, their traditional rivals are struggling. This marks the first time 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 beginning, 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 style, with his side second top scorers in the league and having the tightest defense, despite numerous injuries.
- Shutouts in three straight Premier League games
- Nearly 6.5 hours without letting in a goal
- Only a handful of concessions in 12 games across various contests
Former players and analysts have characterized Arteta's men as a "juggernaut, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now functioning with belief and purpose.
