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It's clear why Arsenal stand as many people's preferred choice to claim the Premier League in the current campaign.

Examine their outcomes against West Ham and Crystal Palace compared to those same matches last season.

The Gunners have beaten all of them during this campaign, but dropped 10 points across those games as they fell away in the title race last season.

Defensive Strength

Arsenal's defensive strength is a key reason why they are appearing strong to at last realize their title ambition.

They rank top for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), opposition efforts (72), dangerous chances allowed (19) and xGA (5.3).

The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is potentially the finest in the league, with Arsenal maintaining a clean sheet in six of their first nine games.

Dead-Ball Superiority

Their threat from set-pieces is widely recognized, but rival sides still don't know how to stop the Gunners from these opportunities.

They have scored 11 times from set-pieces in the league, two more 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 fear factor. People are just wary of them and it is excellent to see."

Title Potential

What is even more notable about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United at opposition grounds and Manchester City on home turf - 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 premier instance 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 additions in pursuit of that long-awaited first title since 2004.

But the investment has so far proven successful in style, with his side second top scorers in the league and having the most resilient defense, despite several injuries.

• Shutouts 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 pundits have described Arteta's men as a "unstoppable force, looking hard to stop" with the whole club now operating with belief and purpose.