Arsenal played Brighton away from home on Saturday in a fixture which has proved to be costly in seasons gone by for the gunners. This time it was very different as they strolled to a confident 3-0 win over De Zerbi’s men.

This should not be ignored. Brighton are a top side and they are capable of taking points from all the top teams. A lot of rival fans would’ve been sat by their TVs hoping for Arsenal to slip up and instead watched the latest episode in Arsenal’s title charge.

However, we are all taking for granted how impressive this all is. The more you delve into this Arsenal side you realise how great a feat it is to have transformed so quickly and compete at the top.

Mikel Arteta has only been at the club for four years, which to many people in Football is a lot of time. The average tenure of a manager in the Premier League is lower than this, showing he has had time in the job.

However, we don’t talk enough as football fans about the fact that in Arteta’s first job he has taken over an underperforming and frankly embarrassing Arsenal side and brought the team and the fanbase to the point where they are expecting a Premier League title.

More importantly than any of this is the fact that this is Arteta’s first managerial job. He may have had the experience as Pep Guardiola’s number 2 but that is nothing compared to the responsibility and pressure he has had since returning to North London. This isn’t normal and shouldn’t be treated like it.

The only similar cases of managers proving themselves quickly after their playing careers are that of Pep himself and Xabi Alonso who is set to win the Bundesliga this season with Bayer leverkusen.

The underlying statistics of the Arsenal team this season are ridiculously impressive. Almost every metric has them as far and away top performers, and rightfully so as they currently sit first in the table.

The run of form they have been on since the turn of the year has seen them concede just 4 goals and score 38 in the league. Their goal difference has skyrocketed to become the best in the division which is amazing when a couple of seasons ago Arsenal had to wait until Christmas to have a positive goal difference.

If the Premier League title race led to a three-way-tie on points Arsenal would be favourites to win, they have the superior goal difference, the most goals scored and if somehow they are equalled by either Man City or Liverpool they would win due to their head to head record.

They are an extremely serious team with a toughness to them we haven’t seen since the Invincibles. The biggest compliment you could give to this current side is that if they played that Arsene Wenger side from 2004, it wouldn’t be easy to predict.

This side defends with pride, even on Saturday’s win they were fighting to keep that all important clean sheet. That fight is what could be the difference from last season’s missed chance.

As every week goes by and the gunners pick up points I have a growing feeling that they just might do it.

Who is there to stop them? If they can pick off 8 points off Liverpool and City, they shouldn’t fear anyone. They will go into every game as favourites until the end of the season. Last season that was a burden which eventually they couldn’t handle.

This season the Gunners have relished the fear they see in other sides. The utter dominance in their February period with the two separate 6-0 wins shows the extra hunger last season has given them.

I can only see this Arsenal team getting better and better, learning from every mistake until there is nothing left but perfection.

In two years, Arsenal may field an absolutely different team with a different style of play but with Arteta at the helm they will only keep progressing until they are a true titan of Football once again.