Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League this season by a mile

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Arsenal sit top of the Premier League after seven matches, and the underlying metrics make for promising reading for Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners have won five of their opening seven games, beating Newcastle at St. James’ Park and Manchester United at Old Trafford in the process.

Conceding just three goals and scoring 14 so far, it’s been an excellent start to the season for Arteta’s side.

Ally McCoist now believes Arsenal will win the Premier League, and he’s one of a number of pundits who have revealed that they now think this, and for good reason.

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The data suggests Arsenal have been easily the best team in the Premier League this season

Liverpool are in turmoil after three consecutive losses, while Manchester City are heavily reliant on a rampant Erling Haaland.

As a result of these teams’ frailties, Arsenal are now being viewed as the favourites to lift the title come May, and the data offers nothing but assurance to Arteta that this is a likely outcome.

As shown by the numbers below, the Gunners rank high up the league for every metric that is important in assessing the level of a team.

Perhaps the most predictive stat of all is expected goal difference. This measures how successful teams have been at creating chances and restricting chances, and Arsenal currently have comfortably the best xG difference after seven matches, 2.5 higher than the second best team, which is City.

The numbers indicate that Arsenal could still get better as an offensive team, taking fewer shots than Manchester United and creating fewer expected goals than Ruben Amorim’s side, City and Crystal Palace.

Regardless, Arteta’s outfit are so good defensively that this makes up for being merely one of the best attacking teams, rather than the definitive best.

However, how often Arsenal get into the opposition’s penalty box suggests that there is reason to be optimistic that they could get better going forward.

The Gunners have had 236 touches in the opponents’ penalty area, 46 more than the team that ranks second for this metric, Liverpool. If they can make more of these positions that they find themselves in, then they could go to a different level from an attacking standpoint.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have allowed 36 fewer touches in their box than anyone else, and conceded eight fewer shots.

All of these numbers clearly indicate that Arteta’s team have been, by far and away, the best team in the English top flight this season so far.

What can stop Arsenal from winning the league?

Andrea Berta spent £250 million in the summer to ensure Arteta’s squad has enough depth to protect them from dropping off as a result of injuries.

They should therefore be capable of maintaining their high level throughout the season, although a significant injury crisis is still likely to be detrimental to their season.

The only other thing that could prevent Arsenal from winning the Premier League is one of the other teams enjoying a serious uptick in their performance levels.

Haaland’s monstrous form could simply carry City throughout the season, and could make them good enough to withstand other issues and win the title.

Meanwhile, Arne Slot could configure a system that puts all of Liverpool’s talented new pieces together in a coherent way, which prompts the Merseysiders to become unstoppable and to launch another assault on major silverware.