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It's obvious why Arsenal have become many people's favorites to secure the Premier League in the current campaign.

Consider their outcomes against West Ham and Crystal Palace compared to those identical matches in the previous campaign.

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 last season.

Impenetrable Defense

Arsenal's backline resilience is a key reason why they are appearing strong to ultimately achieve their title target.

They rank top for shutouts (6), goals allowed (3), shots faced (72), dangerous chances allowed (19) and expected goals against (5.3).

The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is potentially the best in the league, with Arsenal recording 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 neutralize the Gunners from these situations.

They have registered 11 times from set-pieces in the league, several additional than any other side, with 69% of their goals originating 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 great to see."

Title Claims

What is even more remarkable about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also played Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United at opposition grounds and Manchester City at home - and are still leading by four at the top.

While they keep winning, their traditional rivals are struggling. This marks the first time 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 beginning, having allocated around £250m on eight summer additions in pursuit of that long-awaited first title since 2004.

But the investment has so far paid off in impressive fashion, with his side second top scorers in the league and possessing the strongest defense, despite numerous injuries.

• Clean sheets in three consecutive Premier League games
• Over six hours without conceding a goal
• Only a trio of goals in 12 games across various contests

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