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It is not hard to see why Arsenal are now many people’s favourites to win the Premier League this season.

Take their results against Newcastle, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace compared to those matches in the previous campaign.

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

A draw at Fulham, another at home to Palace, while they lost at Newcastle and were beaten at home by West Ham.

It meant the Gunners finished second for a second successive season, this time with a 10-point deficit to champions Liverpool, showing just how crucial such results are to the final outcome.

What is even more impressive about Arsenal’s start to the campaign is they have also played Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United away from home and Manchester City at home – and are still four points clear at the top from Bournemouth.

While they keep winning, their traditional rivals aren’t faring so well. In fact, is is the first time at this stage of this season since 1992 that none of Manchester City and United, Liverpool or Chelsea are in the Premier League top four.

“It is interesting because there are some misconceptions we have and that is true with Arsenal. People call them set-piece FC and all that,” former City defender Nedum Onouha told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“But they are up there with teams with the most shots in the Premier League and had the fewest goals conceded, conceded the fewest chances and the fewest shots.

“They are brilliant. They sit top of the league and they deserve to be there.”

The pressure was on boss Mikel Arteta at the start, having spent around £250m on eight summer signings in search of that elusive first title since 2004.

But the business has so far paid off in style, with his side second top scorers in the league and having the tightest defence, despite a number of injuries.

“Arsenal can do a bit of everything now. The whole team has a fear factor.” former Gunners striker Theo Walcott added on BBC Sport. “People are just afraid of them and it is great to see.

“It’s starting to now be normal that they don’t concede goals. They will have a bad patch and last year it was too many draws, but I don’t think that’s going to happen this year. There is belief in the whole club now.”

Arsenal’s defensive solidity is a key reason why they are looking well positioned to finally fulfil their title target.

Arteta himself said he valued the win over Palace more “than any other victory this season”, and with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City losing, Arsenal had “a big opportunity as well with the things that happened during this weekend”.

“We are where we are [in the league] and it is a credit to us because we’ve been very, very consistent, but it really doesn’t mean anything other than let’s keep doing a lot of things that we’re doing really well,” he added.

“There are things to improve as well to give us better margins.”

Defensively, his side rank top in the league for clean sheets (6), goals conceded (3), shots faced (72), shots on target faced (19) and expected goals against (xGA 5.3).

They restricted Palace to just one shot on target and even that opportunity was when the ball flicked off of Eddie Nketiah’s head and into keeper David Raya’s hands.

The central defensive pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba is arguably the best in the league and Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in six of their first nine games, more than any other team this season.

There is a slight worry over Saliba’s fitness as he was withdrawn at half-time, but when summer arrival Cristhian Mosquera has stepped into the team, the 21-year-old has looked an elite centre-back.

Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three games in the Premier League, a run of 385 minutes without conceding, and have only let in three goals in 12 games in all competitions this season.

“The pattern for Arsenal is that they can play anyone and get results. The champions of old don’t concede many goals and Arsenal have belief they’ll make a chance and they’ll take it.” said Walcott.

“It’s been a weekend of poor results for teams you’d expect to win.

Their threat from set-pieces is well known, but opposition teams still don’t know how to contain the Gunners from the opportunities they get.

They have scored crucial goals in matches against Manchester United, Newcastle, Fulham and Atletico Madrid from set-pieces and those goals have seen them pick up vital wins, or Gabriel opened the scoring against Atletico when it looked like there was no way through.

Opposing managers have highlighted Arsenal’s quality from corners and free-kicks and, in Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, they have two of the best takers in the league.

They have scored 11 times from set-pieces in the league, two more than any other side (Chelsea, 9) and 69% (11/16) of their goals in 2025-26 have come from them too.

Why are Arsenal currently the most popular team’s favorite to win the Premier League this year is not hard to understand.

Compare their performances at West Ham, Fulham, and Crystal Palace to those at the start of the campaign.

The Gunners have defeated them all this time around, but they lost 10 points in those contests as a result of their inability to win the title last year.

A draw at Fulham, a draw at Palace, a loss at Newcastle, and a West Ham defeat at home.

The result showed how crucial such outcomes are to the outcome, as the Gunners finished second for the second consecutive season with a 10-point deficit over champions Liverpool.

Arsenal have also faced Manchester United, Liverpool, and Newcastle United away from home, and Manchester City at home, and are still four points clear of Bournemouth at the top of the table. This is even more impressive because they have already won four games in a row in Bournemouth.

Their traditional rivals aren’t faring as well, despite continuing to win. It is the first time in the Premier League top four since 1992 that none of Manchester City, United, Liverpool, or Chelsea have been there at this time.

It’s interesting because Arsenal has some common misconceptions, which is true. Former City defender Nedum Onouha referred to them as “set-piece FC” and all that, according to BBC Radio 5 Live.

“But they are up there with Premier League teams with the most shots and the fewest goals conceded, the fewest chances conceded, and the fewest shots,” they said.

They are fantastic, they say. They are the best in their field, and they deserved to be.

Mikel Arteta, who had spent around £250 million on eight summer signings in search of that elusive first title since 2004, was under a lot of pressure at the beginning.

However, despite a number of injuries, the business has already paid off in style, with his team having the league’s second-best defense and second-best scorers overall.

Arsenal has the ability to do “some of everything.” Fear factor exists throughout the entire team. Theo Walcott, a former Gunners striker, added to BBC Sport. It’s amazing to see that people are afraid of them.

“They’re starting to feel normal that they don’t concede goals,” he said. They will experience a bad patch, and there were too many draws last year, but I don’t believe that will occur this year. The entire club is now believed.

The key to Arsenal’s success in achieving their title goal is the defense’s ability to defend them.

With Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City losing, Arsenal had “a big opportunity,” according to Arteta, who stated that he valued the victory over Palace above any other victory this year.

“We are where we are [in the league], and it is a credit to us because we’ve been very, very consistent,” he continued, adding that “let’s keep doing a lot of things that we’re doing really well.”

There are things that can be improved, as well, to increase our margins.

His team leads the league in terms of defensive clean sheets (6), goals conceded (3), shots faced (72), shots on target faced (19), and expected goals against (xGA 5.3).

The ball was smacked off of Eddie Nketiah’s head and into keeper David Raya’s hands, which only gave Palace one chance to score on goal.

Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in six of their first nine games, more than any other team this season, and Gabriel’s central defensive pairing, who is arguably the best in the league, is undoubtedly the best.

Saliba’s fitness is a concern as he was forced to play half-time, but since joining the team from summer, Cristhian Mosquera has shown an elite centre-back.

In each of their last three Premier League games, Arsenal has allowed three goals in 12 games this season while maintaining a clean sheet in each of those three games, a 385-minute run without conceding.

“Arsenal can play anyone and get results,” is the pattern. Arsenal believes they have a chance and will take it, and the champions of the past don’t concede many goals. Walcott remarked.

“The teams you’d expect to win have had poor results this weekend.”

Although opposition teams are well aware of their threat from set-pieces, they are unsure of how to stop the Gunners when given the chance.

They have won important victories in sets-piece matches against Manchester United, Newcastle, Fulham, and Atletico Madrid, or Gabriel opened the scoring for them when it appeared there was no way out.

In addition to having two of the league’s top takers in Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, opposing managers have praised Arsenal’s quality from corners and free kicks.

In the league, they have scored 11 goals from set-pieces, two more than any other team (Chelsea), and 69% of their goals have come from them in the years 2025-26.

Finding the net is a striker’s biggest concern, but for Jamie Cureton, scoring his first goal for Kings Park Rangers was more important than most.

When Cureton, 50, joined the step-six team earlier this month, he was unaware that a goal in Division One North of the Eastern Counties League would “complete” his already impressive run.

Cureton scored his first goal for Kings Park Rangers on Saturday, which means he now ranks among the top 10 in English football.

“Anywhere, I could have been at Wembley and still celebrated in the same way,” Cureton told BBC Sport.

Cureton has completed a significant portion of the English football bingo card after 32 incredible professional football seasons.

He has earned promotions with Queens Park Rangers, earned the Championship Golden Boot, and won the Championship Championship at Colchester United under the leadership of Alan Pardew, Martin O’Neill, and Ian Holloway.

He has traveled extensively throughout southern England, starting with Exeter City in Exeter City to Colchester, then making a quick stop in Barnsley for his hometown team Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town, Leyton Orient, and then his hometown club Bristol Rovers, Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town, and then.

He has also spent time at Busan I’Cons in South Korea, where he has previously traveled.

When England captain Harry Kane was just a year old, he scored his first goal for Norwich City at the age of 19 in 1994.

Cureton told BBC Sport, “I’ve just loved scoring goals.”

“Everyone has a special place in history,” says one author.

The range of paths a professional footballer’s career can take ranges, but they usually all take the same path. From Lamine Yamal’s teen superstardom to Jamie Vardy’s rapid maturation.

The Bristol-born striker, who won the England Under 18 caps, started his career at the top with Norwich in the Premiership. This is what makes Cureton’s unique.

As he progressed down the leagues, he continued down the pyramid until he reached his full potential, racking up more than 1, 000 games along the length of the pyramid.

Going from the bottom to the top is probably much simpler, according to Cureton, because you’re trying to find something.

Coming down is much harder because you can experience the stigma of being top and thinking, “I don’t really want to play there,”

The Kings Park Rangers dressing room’s lively players were just as eager to see Cureton’s 10th-tier goal over the line earlier this month.

In a 25-minute substitute start for the Suffolk side based in Great Cornard, he assisted Ben Cannell on his debut, but a goal of his own escaped him.

Cureton scored the fourth goal in a 4-1 victory over Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers on Saturday, making history.

The legend has finished football, the Kings Park Rangers announced the feat with a post on X:

In an effort to “get out of the pressure cooker and just having fun,” Cureton signed for the club as a striker in October after playing in a number of lower-league player-management positions.

However, the veteran forward still wants to add a few accomplishments to his wish list.

I’m “about four or five goals away from 400,” Cureton said. “I want to chase that one,” he said.

“We’re trying to get promotions, which is a big goal,” said the club I’m in.

As long as I’m fit enough and I’m not letting anyone down, I’ve always said, I’ll continue to play.

“I’m just playing for fun because I can,” she says. “I still enjoy and adore it.”