Offense second, defense first! Leading the Premier League with 22 points in 9 rounds. The Gunners are really good at winning this championship.

In the 9th round of the Premier League, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea, the top four contenders, had a record of 1 win and 3 losses. Except for the leader, the rest all lost.

This also means that after this round, Arsenal has widened the point gap with its championship competitors. Gunners fans who have been in the cycle of hope and disappointment for more than 20 years may really be able to look forward to the Premier League championship trophy.

The media and institutions have a keen sense of smell. As soon as the ninth round ended, the winning odds changed. Take the latest list from the famous data agency OPTA as an example: Arsenal ranks first with 67.3%; Manchester City ranks second with 12.4%; Liverpool ranks third with 11%.

Currently, Arsenal leads with 22 points, 6 points ahead of Manchester City, and 7 points ahead of Liverpool. The advantage is still relatively large. Moreover, from the perspective of team strength, level of integration, morale, etc., Arsenal is the best.

After the draw with Manchester City, Arsenal immediately achieved a record of 7 wins in 7 games in all lines. In the 5 games played in October, Arsenal did not concede a goal, which shows their defensive skills.

Winning depends on offense, winning depends on defense. After 9 rounds of the Premier League, Arsenal has only conceded 3 goals and kept zero seals in 6 games. It is not only the Premier League, but also the best defensive team in Europe. There is another statistic that is even more eye-catching: Arsenal is the only team in the five major European leagues this season that has never allowed its opponents to create any clear scoring opportunities.

Based on this performance, the Gunners are very likely to break the record of only conceding 15 goals in a single season set by the Iron-blooded Blues in the 2004/05 season, becoming the best defensive team in the history of the Premier League.

In terms of offense, Arsenal may not be considered outstanding, and may even be somewhat obstructed, but Arsenal has a magic weapon that stands out from the rest - set-pieces. In this round of London Derby with Crystal Palace, Arsenal relied on set-piece tactics to defeat their opponents and scored 3 points. After 9 rounds of the Premier League, 11 of the 16 goals scored by Arsenal were scored through set-pieces, which is more than the total number of goals scored by the 8 Premier League teams.

This summer window, Arsenal's net investment in signings ranked first again. In the eyes of most media and fans, this is Arteta's last chance. If he cannot win the coveted Premier League championship trophy at the end of the season, he will have no choice but to pack up and leave.

Under the pressure of Guardiola's passing and controlling flow and Klopp's pressing flow, Arteta finally figured out his own way - based on solid defense and using set pieces as a weapon. Although this path seems more pragmatic and utilitarian, for Gunners fans who have been hungry for more than 20 years, the championship trophy is obviously the best solution.

Of course, Arsenal must not take it lightly.

This is the seventh time in the history of Arsenal that Arsenal has scored at least 22 points in the first nine rounds of the Premier League, but they only had the last laugh once - the glorious 2003/04 season that Gunners fans will miss infinitely. Arteta himself has had the painful experience of falling short twice and missing out on the championship trophy.

Therefore, Arsenal's road to regaining the Premier League championship is far more difficult than it seems. There has been ridicule in the market that the Gunners "must stretch their hips every spring". Whether Arsenal can get what they want this time depends on the Christmas schedule and the March campaign.