Arsenal receive major title boost after Liverpool stumble and West Ham victory showcases quality

Top of the league. A dream place to be after seven games for Arsenal, especially when you consider that they have already faced both of their two title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.

They failed to win either of those two matches, losing at Anfield while Pep Guardiola's side claimed a point from the trip to the Emirates. However, the combination of Arsenal’s 2-0 win over West Ham United and Chelsea's last-minute defeat of Arne Slot's men leaves Arsenal clear by a single point going into the second international break of the season.

After the draw with City, it was said that the Gunners’ title credentials would be judged not against Liverpool or City but against the other 17 teams. The Premier League’s last two victors failed to beat Arsenal in any of their four clashes with them.

In fact, Liverpool’s win over Arsenal at Anfield was the first ‘Big Six’ side to beat Arsenal since April 2023. The title race has not been defined by these headline-act fixtures, instead it is about who can consistently be the best across all the other games.

For Arsenal, wins over Manchester United, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, and now West Ham leave them top of the table. Liverpool’s back-to-back defeats to Crystal Palace and Chelsea have now condemned them to play catch-up at this early stage of the season.

What is perhaps more impressive are the numbers that surround Arsenal while they have walked their way into first place. David Raya, for example, has conceded just a single goal from open play in all competitions, while he claimed his fourth clean sheet from the opening seven games of the league campaign.

They are currently five points better off in terms of their corresponding fixtures from the previous season. It is a six-point swing from their wins over Newcastle and West Ham, who both beat them in their respective clashes with the Gunners last season.

Mikel Arteta was delighted to disregard the “scars” from these games. Turning the defeats into victories are exactly what this Arsenal team needs to form the foundation of a successful title challenge.

“Yeah, well, the last two games have been very special in that sense in Newcastle because we had a history there,” he said. “A lot of scars and a lot of learnings to take, we put that right, and then we had West Ham losing two games at home in the previous two seasons.

“I told them it was a big opportunity, we had very difficult fixtures since the start of the season, some very bad injuries as well, not helping, and still the team is performing, playing well and winning today with absolute dominance and without conceding a goal, so good to get to an international break in this period.”

The 300th game that Mikel Arteta has taken charge of has only furthered his win percentage, which exceeds 58%, the highest of any Arsenal head coach or manager. Speaking ahead of the weekend, he was clear in his assessment of how meaningless this statistic is alongside the lack of silverware.

“So you said about the winning rate, they’re the highest,” he said. “And even with that winning rate, we haven't won major trophies.

“So that tells you the level. That's why you have to do what has been done before, and at this level is not enough. It has to be done much more, and it is much more difficult. That's what we try to focus on doing.”

Despite losing at least one player to injury in six of the new season's opening seven matches, the club sits top of the table. This comes both from the summer investment, the management of the opening seven matches and the utilisation of the group.

Arteta is hopeful that both Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice’s injuries are not too serious while summer signing Piero Hincapie could be ready to break his way into the group following this latest international break. In a month of October where the Gunners do not leave London, this is not just about staying top of the tree but extending their advantage in the process which now becomes the next target.

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