Nine games into the Premier League time of year and Arsenal sits on top of the inning of the league. Yes, Arsenal.

This is non an illusion. The Gunners feature been transformed by train Mikel Arteta into a supreme Bodoni soccer team: organized, exciting, packed with single talent, but swarming, pressing, passing, and rotating as an elite group unit.

Unpressable, ball-playing defenders. Inverted full backs. Blistering young wingers. And a guy wire named Jesus up front end who unleashes hellfire on opposite defenses. This is a team up without obvious weaknesses.

Arsenal has even highly-developed the variety of fast-growing(a) street-smarts so absent inward the later Wenger years.

But can buoy this team up win the title?

Pep: ‘Better than City’

Whisper it, but for the number one time inwards 16 years, Arsenal is looking similar the real trade again. But a realer business deal than City? City, with its whale Norwegian wolf of a striker and the superhuman Kevin De Bruyne? City, which is arguably the best team up inward the humanity and maybe ace of the best of all time assembled?

As City manager and Arteta’s former wise man Pep Guardiola said this week, “The realness is that Arsenal feature been better than us so far. We are not upper side of the league.”

The underlying stats reassert that this Arsenal revivification is non illusory, the likes of all the other Arsenal revivals before it.

The team’s expected goals (XG) have got been improve than its opponents inwards for each one of the niner games it’s played so far, still inward the deprivation at Manchester United, underlining that the final result was unfortunate.

Some commentators hold suggested Arsenal mightiness “do a Leicester” this season. It’s a strange comment. Leicester won the conference inwards 2016, having narrowly survived relegation at the finish of the season prior. At the starting time of the 2015-16 season, the Foxes were 5,000-1 to win the title.

Arsenal, on the other hand, is a traditional upper side half-dozen side inwards the 3rd year of a reconstruct that has be £278 million. But such is the perceived dominance of City that it feels similar 5,000-1. Arsenal is, inwards fact, 8-1 to win the title.

The New Liverpool?

It’s to a greater extent clever to inquire “will Arsenal manage a Liverpool” – i.e., build a world-class title-winning side without the financial championship of an oil-rich nation state.

That appears to live the plan, but maybe non this year. In all likelihood, Arsenal is competing for second. The squad lacks a minuscule depth. It’s short a goalscoring winger and a central midfielder.

Additions o'er summertime have got improved squad depth, with players who can buoy cover several positions. But turn a loss Seth Thomas Partey and the team drops a level. And the Ghanian, who was unavailable for that resole loss against United, is trauma prone.

Arsenal is also the youngest squad inward the league with an average age of 23.7, and their inexperience mightiness weigh this year.

But those players testament smash their top as footballers inward 2 to III years’ time. When that happens Arsenal testament live scary.