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It's clear why Arsenal have become countless pundits' favorites to secure the Premier League during this term.

Look at their outcomes against Newcastle and Crystal Palace versus those identical matches during the prior term.

The Gunners have defeated all of them in the current season, but surrendered 10 points across those games as they fell away in the title race last season.

Impenetrable Backline

Arsenal's backline resilience is a primary factor why they are seeming ready to finally fulfil their title target.

They rank top for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), shots faced (72), shots on target faced (19) and expected goals against (5.3).

The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is arguably 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 well known, but opposition teams still don't know how to stop the Gunners from these situations.

They have scored 11 times from set-pieces in the league, two more than any other side, with 69% of their goals originating from these situations.

"Arsenal can perform multiple roles now. The whole team has a intimidation presence. People are just fearful of them and it is great to see."

Title Claims

What is particularly remarkable about Arsenal's start to the campaign is they have also faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United on the road and Manchester City at home - and are still leading by four at the top.

While they keep winning, their long-standing opponents are struggling. This marks the premier instance at this juncture of the season since 1992 that none of Manchester City and United, Liverpool or Chelsea are in the Premier League top four.

The scrutiny was on boss Mikel Arteta at the start, having allocated around £250m on eight summer acquisitions in search of that coveted first title since 2004.

But the investment has so far yielded results in remarkable manner, with his side one of the most prolific attacks in the league and having the strongest defense, despite several injuries.

• Clean sheets in three consecutive Premier League games
• 385 minutes without conceding a goal
• Only a handful of concessions in 12 games across all competitions

Former players and analysts have characterized Arteta's men as a "juggernaut, looking challenging to stop" with the whole club now functioning with confidence and purpose.