Arsenal Are Perfect After Four Games — Sunderland 0-2 Extends the Run
Arsenal went to the Stadium of Light and won 2-0. That makes it twelve points from twelve in the Premier League, alongside a 1-0 win away at Napoli in the Champions League. A defending champion is supposed to face a difficult second season. Arsenal are having the opposite.
The Run So Far
It began with a 3-0 win at newly-promoted Coventry, with Havertz, Saka and Ødegaard all scoring. Then a 2-1 home win over Chelsea — a direct rival who had just signed Morgan Rogers for a British-record £117 million. Then Napoli away in Europe, the hardest opening Champions League fixture handed to any English club, won 1-0 with a clean sheet. Now Sunderland away, 2-0.
The Chelsea Win Was the Important One
Beating Coventry and Sunderland is expected. Beating Chelsea at home, in a season where Chelsea had spent a British record on a single player, is the result that separates a good start from a genuine statement. Chelsea currently sit fourth on six points; that early defeat is a meaningful part of why.
💯 TWELVE FROM TWELVE
Why Away Clean Sheets Matter Most
Two of Arsenal's four wins have come away from home without conceding, including one in Naples — a ground where the atmosphere alone unsettles visiting teams. Defensive reliability on the road is the trait that most reliably distinguishes title-winning seasons from good ones, because it removes the bad afternoons that cost champions titles in April.
The Rashford Question Is Still Open
Arsenal's deadline-period £50 million signing of Marcus Rashford — a fee that reportedly caused surprise inside the club — arrived without a full pre-season. With the side winning everything, there is little pressure to force him in, which is arguably the best possible environment for a player integrating late. How he features once the fixture list congests is the interesting part.
The Context Everyone Else Is Struggling With
The 19 July World Cup final, the latest since 1966, compressed pre-season across the league. Tottenham sit 17th after a record transfer window. Aston Villa have one point from four. Liverpool have drawn twice. Arsenal — a settled squad with fewer new faces to integrate — have been among the least disrupted, and the table reflects it.
What Comes Next
Brighton away on 19 September, where the models make Arsenal 54.3% favourites, then the three-week extended international break before club football returns on 10-11 October. Banking points before that gap arrives has genuine value — momentum is harder to rebuild than maintain.
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