Arsenal's true challenge will come if one of their leading lights, namely Gabriel Jesus or William Saliba, gets injured.
That is the view of Gary Neville, who believes the tough stage of the season is still to come for the Gunners, despite them beating Tottenham and Liverpool in consecutive weekends. Mikel Arteta's side are a point clear at the top of the table after a winning run that has left many surprised.
Arsenal, who finished fifth last term, continue to come through the tests put before them and are juggling the demand of playing in Thursday's Europa League with the Premier League. New faces have bolstered their team and given them a new injection of quality.
Jesus, signed from Manchester City in the summer, is among them with the striker leading the line impressively. Meanwhile their defensive line has looked as assured as ever with Saliba at its core. The young centre-half has spent several years away but looks an accomplished performer.
Should either of them suffered a period out though, Neville believes Arsenal may struggle in ways they haven't yet. He said on his podcast : "The tough part of the season is still to come for Arsenal, we’ve got the season that’s going to feel like an age when the World Cup kicks in in the winter, when they come back you just don’t know.
"We could be sitting here in February where they’re challenging for the top four and all of a sudden, experience of the likes of Chelsea or Liverpool could start to rise a little bit. There’s a long way to go, this is not the time to get carried away if you’re an Arsenal fan but there’s a spirit building, something in this stadium where these fans can see a team and a manager that are going places but feet on the ground.
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"An injury to Jesus, injury to Saliba, I know any team could be in that position, but it could become more difficult at certain points. Those difficult moments haven’t come yet but there’s no doubt Arsenal are a team that looks fantastic, today (Sunday) they deserved it and played against an outstanding Liverpool team over the last five years and they look better than them."
Jesus' capture was vital given the departures of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in consecutive transfer windows. Already the Brazilian has scored five times for the Gunners, but it is his impact on the whole team that would be most missed.
Defensively the Gunners do have cover, but last term questions were asked of Gabriel and Ben White as they partnered up at the heart of defence. Arteta's outfit shipped 48 goals and a repeat of that number would rule out any title charge this season.
