Photo via BBC Sport

Is the Premier League already a two-team title race?

Arsenal and Manchester City have separated themselves at the summit of the Premier League, sitting on maximum points with four victories each. The reigning champions, guided by Mikel Arteta following their championship breakthrough that halted a 22-year drought, began the campaign by dismantling City 3-0 in Cardiff for the Community Shield.

They have sustained that momentum with top-flight triumphs over Coventry, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Sunderland alongside a Champions League win against Napoli, pushing their domestic league winning streak to nine fixtures without a 90-minute loss in any tournament since April 19. Meanwhile, City are adjusting under Enzo Maresca, who succeeded six-time league winner Pep Guardiola after a decade of success that featured a Treble.

Maresca's side bounced back from their season-opening loss to defeat Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Coventry, and Porto in European play, before claiming a disputed 1-0 derby triumph over Manchester United courtesy of an Erling Haaland strike that officials conceded was mistakenly allowed to stand despite an offside.

Surprise package Hull City sit four points adrift in third, while the remaining competition trails by at least five points. Though Arsenal and City possess the stingiest defenses with merely one and two goals conceded respectively, their attacking volume tells a quieter story: both have scored eight times, fewer than Brighton's 13 and Chelsea's 10, while ranking mid-table for attempts and opposition penalty-area touches.

The chasing pack of fancied rivals is struggling to establish rhythm amid dugout changes. Chelsea, now led by Xabi Alonso following a 10th-place finish, sit fifth despite defensive frailties that have seen them yield nine goals, shipping at least two per match across the opening four fixtures for the first time since 2015-16.

Andoni Iraola's seventh-placed Liverpool, seeking to improve on last year's fifth-place effort, remain without a defeat but have drawn three times, managing to miss out on victory in their opening two home league fixtures for only the third instance across 63 seasons. Further back, Michael Carrick's third-place finishers from last term and Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham, who languished in 17th, have yet to mount pressure after their summer rebuilds.

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