Arsenal won the Premier League in May, their fourth title and their first since 2004. Two matchweeks into the defence, they have taken six points from six, and they are the side every other club is now measuring itself against.
Early tables flatter and mislead in roughly equal measure, though, and this one is no different. Hull City are level on points at the top with Manchester City and Chelsea, while Aston Villa, fourth last season and winners of the Europa League, have lost twice without scoring. Pre-season predictions, whether they come from pundits or from a trusted bookmaker, rarely survive the first month of a campaign intact.
In this article, we look at five storylines that should shape the rest of the season.
Can Arsenal retain their title?
Arsenal have won the Premier League four times, in 1998, 2002, 2004 and finally again in 2026. But they have never followed one of those seasons with another. Retaining a title asks different questions of a squad than winning one, and the early answers have been encouraging rather than emphatic.
They beat Coventry City 3-0 and then ground out a 1-0 win at Aston Villa through a Bukayo Saka finish, a result that made it five seasons in a row with a clean sheet in their opening away league match.
Hull City have made the strongest promoted start
Hull City came up through the play-offs after finishing sixth in the Championship, the least convincing of the three promoted sides. They were widely expected to go straight back down, and instead they beat Manchester United 2-0 before winning again to take maximum points from their opening two matches.
Very few promoted clubs sustain that over 38 games, but the early assumption about where Hull would finish has already been complicated.
Aston Villa are rebuilding after a European high
Villa finished fourth last season and won the Europa League, then spent the summer selling. Ollie Watkins, who scored 16 league goals for them, has left for Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, and Ezri Konsa joined Arsenal. Unai Emery’s side were beaten 4-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion on the opening weekend and then lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal without registering a shot on target, something they had not done in a home league match since May 2016. The last time Villa lost their opening two fixtures without scoring was 2002.
Tottenham’s summer rebuild
Tottenham have finished 17th in each of the last two seasons and responded by spending around £389m across 10 signings, second only to Chelsea in the division. Roberto De Zerbi inherited a squad that needed rebuilding and got one, with Sandro Tonali arriving from Newcastle United and Savio joining from Manchester City for £85m.
So far it has produced no points and no goals, after a 3-0 defeat at Brentford and a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle. Big spends take time to settle, but few clubs have raised the stakes as far in one window.
Liverpool are drawing the games they used to win
Liverpool have drawn both of their opening fixtures, including 2-2 with Nottingham Forest. Two points from six is not a crisis in the first fortnight, but it leaves them four behind Arsenal before the first international break. In a division where the champions have already shown they can win a match without playing especially well, points dropped in August are the ones clubs tend to revisit in May.
Almost everything on this list will look different by Christmas. What the opening fortnight has established is that the gap between the sides expected to struggle and those expected to compete is narrower than it was assumed to be in June.
