Manchester City and Arsenal Set the Early Pace in the Title Race

Three matches into the new Premier League season, the title race has a familiar look at the very top and a thoroughly unfamiliar one just beneath it. According to the Premier League table, two perfect records lead the way — and the side sitting third has turned the opening weeks on their head.

Two perfect records at the summit

Manchester City and Arsenal are the only sides in the division with maximum points, and according to the Premier League table they are separated by the finest of margins. Both have three wins from three and a +5 goal difference; City shade top spot on goals scored, with seven to Arsenal's six.

Arsenal have been the tighter of the pair defensively, conceding just once to City's twice — a figure bettered across the entire division only by the team directly below them in the standings.

Early-season tables reward fast starters, and nobody has started faster than these two. A perfect record is a foundation, not a guarantee.

Hull City's improbable perch

Hull City AFC sit third with seven points from an unbeaten start, and the numbers are startling: three games, two wins, a draw, three goals scored and none conceded. According to the standings, no side in the division has conceded fewer, and only the two teams above them have collected more points.

Whether that form survives a full season is another matter entirely, but as opening statements go, an unbeaten record and the meanest defence in the league take some beating.

Chelsea's case, with caveats

Chelsea occupy fourth on six points, and their matches have not been for the faint-hearted. According to the table, no side in the division has scored more than Chelsea's eight goals — yet the seven they have conceded is the worst return of any team in the top ten. The attacking numbers belong to contenders; the defensive numbers belong to a work in progress.

Five more unbeaten sides locked on five points

Below the top four, the standings show a remarkable logjam. Five unbeaten sides are level on five points:

• Brentford, with one win and two draws
• Newcastle United, also unbeaten on a +2 goal difference
• Liverpool, whose one win and two draws leave them four points off the summit
• Everton, five points banked without defeat
• Leeds United, likewise unbeaten

Of that group, it is Liverpool who will feel the early gap most keenly. Four points is not a chasm in September, but in a race where the leaders have refused to drop anything, every draw carries a cost.

The slow starters

For all the focus on the pace-setters, it is the lower reaches of the table that hold some of the biggest names. Tottenham Hotspur sit 17th and Aston Villa 18th, each with a single point and, according to the table, neither having scored a goal. Manchester United are 11th on four points. None of them are out of anything after three games — but all of them have already surrendered ground that the leaders have not.

The early verdict

Three matches is a small sample, and September tables have misled plenty of judges before. Still, the shape of the race is already visible: Manchester City and Arsenal have set the standard, Hull City are the story of the opening weeks, and Chelsea plus a five-strong unbeaten pack are close enough to keep the leaders honest. According to the table, just three points separate first from fourth. The title race has barely begun — but it has begun in earnest.