Arsenal and Manchester City set early Premier League pace as rivals struggle

Arsenal and Manchester City have taken maximum points from their opening four Premier League matches, opening up an early four-point gap to Leeds United and Hull City and leaving the rest of the leading contenders already under pressure.

Both clubs have 12 points, having finished first and second in three of the past four seasons. Leeds and Hull have made excellent starts but are unlikely to be genuine title contenders, while the remaining teams are five points behind the leading pair.

Arsenal began the campaign as defending champions and favourites to retain the title after ending a 22-year wait for a trophy under Mikel Arteta. Their football last season was often described as being built around exhausting opponents, but BBC Sport says they have started the new campaign with greater authority.

They beat Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield before winning against Coventry, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland. They also defeated Napoli in the Champions League. Including the end of last season, Arsenal have now won nine successive Premier League matches, while their last defeat in normal time in any competition came against Manchester City on 19 April.

Manchester City, meanwhile, have adapted quickly to the departure of Pep Guardiola, who guided the club to six trophies in 10 years, including a historic treble. His former assistant Enzo Maresca has overseen four consecutive league victories since the defeat by Arsenal in Cardiff.

City have beaten Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry, as well as Porto in the Champions League, before winning the Manchester derby 1-0 against United. Erling Haaland scored the only goal, although the Premier League refereeing committee later acknowledged a mistake and ruled that the Norwegian’s strike should have been disallowed for offside.

The perfect records do not necessarily indicate complete attacking dominance. Brighton have scored 13 goals and Chelsea 10, compared with eight each for Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal rank 10th for shots and City 11th, while they are sixth and fifth respectively for touches in the opposition penalty area.

Their strongest shared feature has been defensive. Arsenal have conceded once and City twice, underlining how effectively both sides have collected points even when their attacking displays have not been exceptional.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were the next three title favourites according to most bookmakers, with Tottenham further back. Chelsea and Liverpool changed managers in the summer, appointing Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola respectively, while United and Tottenham changed coaches earlier in 2026. Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi have therefore had a full pre-season with their new clubs.

Chelsea, who finished 10th last season, are sixth with one defeat and 10 goals, but have conceded nine. They have let in at least two goals in each of their first four league games for the first time since 2015-16.

Liverpool, last season’s champions, are eighth after drawing three of their opening four matches. They have lost six points and failed to win either of their first two home league games for only the third time in 63 seasons.

United are 13th on four points, matching their worst Premier League start since 1992-93 and repeating last season’s total. Their 84 shots are the most in the division and they have faced only 41, the second-lowest figure, but they have scored seven and conceded seven.

Tottenham are 17th, the same position in which they ended the previous two seasons, and have failed to score in their first four league games for the first time in the club’s history.

History also cautions against declaring the title race settled. Of 80 teams to win their opening four matches in the top flight, only 24 eventually became champions. In the Premier League era, nine of the 28 teams to start with four wins have gone on to lift the title, most recently Manchester City in 2023-24.

Only six Premier League seasons have seen two or more teams win their first four matches. Just two champions have recovered from being at least five points behind after four games: Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1992-93, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2007-08 and 2008-09, and Manchester City under Guardiola in 2020-21.

The gap is not decisive in September, but Arsenal and Manchester City currently possess a clear advantage while their closest challengers search for consistency.