Why Arsenal's start to the season is a lot more impressive than some fans think

When the full-time whistle blew at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening, a collective groan was heard across the red half of north London. Despite Tottenham Hotspur's impressive start to the season, Arsenal supporters had been as confident as ever for the North London Derby — a match that eventually ended 2-2.

One look at social media and you would have thought Mikel Arteta's side had lost 5-0. Gunners supporters can be a tad reactive at the best of times but for some reason, Sunday night was especially negative.

I'll admit, I wasn't much better. «Arteta got everything wrong today», one of my posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) read.

«So passive, so poor», was another — one that was describing the performance of Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard on the day. But with a few days to calm down, collect my thoughts and really think about the context of the result, I realised I too was perhaps a touch hyperbolic in my assessment of the Gunners' start to the 2023/24 campaign.

Firstly, the north Londoners remain unbeaten so far this term. Six Premier League fixtures, four wins and two draws are hardly cause for a crisis.

People love the comparison to last season's fast-start but when you look deeper at the results, it isn't too dissimilar a start. Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at home last term, they have done so again this term.

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Crystal Palace away was won last season and the Gunners secured all three points again this term. The discrepancies lie in the three other fixtures.

Arteta's side defeated Fulham and Spurs at