🔗 Share this article 'People are intimidated' - why 'powerhouse' Arsenal have become the squad everyone fears. Gabriel Magalhaes celebrates Arsenal's victory over Crystal Palace It's evident why Arsenal stand as numerous fans' top picks to secure the Premier League during this term. Consider their outcomes against Newcastle and Crystal Palace versus those same matches last season. The Gunners have overcome all of them in the current season, but surrendered 10 points across those games as they dropped off in the title race in the prior campaign. Defensive Strength Arsenal's defensive strength is a crucial element why they are seeming ready to ultimately achieve their title target. They rank top for unbreached games (6), goals allowed (3), opposition efforts (72), quality opportunities against (19) and anticipated concessions (5.3). The center-back duo of Gabriel and William Saliba is possibly the finest in the league, with Arsenal recording a clean sheet in six of their first nine games. Set-Piece Proficiency Their danger from dead balls is well known, but rival sides still struggle to stop the Gunners from these situations. They have notched 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 do a bit of everything now. The whole team has a intimidation presence. People are just wary of them and it is great to see." Championship Claims What is even more notable about Arsenal's beginning to the campaign is they have also played 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 traditional rivals aren't faring so well. This marks the premier instance at this point 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 boss Mikel Arteta at the beginning, having spent around £250m on eight summer acquisitions in quest of that elusive first title since 2004. But the spending has so far yielded results in remarkable manner, with his side one of the most prolific attacks in the league and having the tightest defense, despite multiple injuries. Unbreached games in three straight Premier League games Nearly 6.5 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 "juggernaut, looking difficult to stop" with the whole club now operating with conviction and resolve.