It's evident why Arsenal are now many people's favorites to claim the Premier League this season.
Consider their outcomes against Fulham and Crystal Palace versus those same matches last season.
The Gunners have overcome all of them during this campaign, but dropped 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 primary factor why they are seeming ready to at last realize their title goal.
They rank top for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), attempts against (72), shots on target faced (19) and xGA (5.3).
The defensive partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba is possibly the strongest 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 highly documented, but competing clubs still don't know how to stop the Gunners from these situations.
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 wonderful to see."
Title Potential
What is particularly notable about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United on the road and Manchester City in their own stadium - and are still ahead by four points at the top.
While they continue triumphing, their historic competitors aren't faring so well. 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 pressure was on head coach Mikel Arteta at the beginning, having invested around £250m on eight summer signings in search of that elusive first title since 2004.
But the spending has so far paid off in impressive fashion, with his side second top scorers in the league and having the strongest defense, despite numerous injuries.
- Unbreached games in three consecutive 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 pundits have labeled Arteta's men as a "powerhouse, looking hard to stop" with the whole club now operating with belief and determination.
