Manchester City's perfect start sets the pace as Arsenal lead the early chase

Five matches into the new Premier League season, the table already tells a clear story at the summit. Manchester City have swept everything before them, Arsenal are giving chase, and behind them a nine-point quartet is waiting for either of the leaders to blink.

City's flawless start

According to the Premier League table, City sit first with the only perfect record in the division: five wins from five, 15 points, 13 goals scored, five conceded and a goal difference of +8. Their form line reads WWWWW — a five-match winning streak that no other side in the division has matched.

The scoring charts show E. Haaland on three goals already, with R. Cherki adding two more — firepower that has City averaging 2.6 goals a game, a total bettered only by Brighton's. Haaland is not alone on three, either: the charts also list A. Isak of Liverpool, B. Fernandes of Manchester United and Sunderland's Brian Brobbey.

Arsenal in pursuit

Arsenal are the closest challengers, second on 12 points from four wins and one defeat. That loss arrived in their first match of the season; since then the form line reads WWWW — four straight wins, with eight goals scored and four conceded. M. Odegaard has two goals to his name, per the scoring charts.

Three points is the entire gap between the top two after five rounds.

Brighton's firepower

Brighton & Hove Albion occupy third on 10 points, and their numbers are the most striking in the division. According to the table, no side has scored more than Brighton's 16 goals, and their +11 goal difference is the best in the league — better, even, than City's +8. Their record stands at three wins, one draw and one defeat, with their latest result a win that immediately followed a loss.

The nine-point pack

Below Brighton, four clubs are locked together on 9 points: Brentford, Liverpool, Leeds United and Everton. According to the table, all four are unbeaten, each with two wins and three draws from five matches.

Liverpool's position is the most curious of the four. Unbeaten after five, they nevertheless find themselves six points behind City, and the form data shows their last two results were draws. Brentford have scored 10 and conceded four; Leeds have scored seven and let in three; Everton six and three.

Further back

Chelsea sit 10th on 7 points. Two straight wins have improved their outlook, but 12 goals conceded is the highest total in the division, per the table — more than the 10 they have scored at the other end. Manchester United are 12th on 5 points, already ten adrift of the leaders, while Newcastle United have 8 points in mid-table.

At the other end of the scale, Tottenham Hotspur prop up the table: winless after five matches, with two points, two goals scored and eight conceded, and — per the form data — two straight losses.

Early arithmetic

The arithmetic after five rounds is simple. City have dropped nothing. Arsenal have dropped three points, Brighton five, and the rest of the top six at least six. Three points is a recoverable gap at this stage, and Arsenal's four straight wins since their opening defeat suggest the pursuit is very much alive. But the table, as it stands, shows one side with a perfect start — and everyone else measuring the distance behind them.