12 impressive Arsenal stats from 2022-23 after resounding 3-0 win over Brentford

Arsenal have come a long way in the last 12 months, and Sunday's 3-0 victory over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium – where they were beaten 2-0 in August 2021 – was a real mark of these advances.

Mikel Arteta's young Gunners may have missed out on Champions League qualification last season, but they have started the 2022-23 campaign in hugely impressive form.

The 3-0 victory over Brentford was their sixth victory in seven Premier League games so far and they are top of the Premier League.

Speaking ahead of this season's trip to Brentford, Arteta told Sky Sports about the poor start to last season - Arsenal were bottom of the pile after three games - and how he, his team and his staff were struggling. coaches bounced back.

“I doubted myself, I questioned myself,” he said. "It's part of a journey where - if you want to improve - you have to be self-critical.

"You need to have other people around you to tell you the truth and also have the humility to always want to better yourself, better yourself, and explore other opinions and ways of doing your job…

"One of the big lessons was: stay calm in tough times, understand why things are happening, and move on."

They managed to do that and they built throughout last season and into the transfer window - adding the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira, who both scored against Brentford.

Legendary Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has even predicted that a sustained title challenge could be on the cards.

"I would say they are going in the right direction," Wenger said.

"I honestly think there is no weak position in the squad...they are promising young players and they have bought well this year.

"There is no completely dominant team this season and Arsenal have a chance with the potential that is there.

"We were in the top four and why not again? You can't even rule out the fact that they can fight for the title and hopefully they can."

The Brentford game was a significant test of that progression and one which Arsenal passed with flying colors.

When they traveled to west London on the opening day of last season, the Gunners were bullied into submission, losing 2-0 to goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard.

This season, Arsenal were really the team that dominated. They ran the game from start to finish, with goals from William Saliba and Jesus giving them a 2-0 cushion at half-time and a scorcher from Vieira wrapping it around in the second.

Here we've compiled 12 impressive stats that show just how good Arsenal were against Brentford and how well they've played this season, courtesy of Squawka, Understat and WhoScored.

- Gabriel Jesus' goal against Brentford means he now has seven assists (four goals, three assists) in seven Premier League games for the Gunners. This is a serious impact.

– Jesus has scored in 50 Premier League games. He didn't lose any. Only James Milner (54) has scored in more Premier League games without finishing on the losing side in any of them.

- Arsenal's combined xG (expected goals) in their seven Premier League games so far is 14.17. Only Manchester City have recorded a higher combined xG so far.

– Arsenal's xGA (expected goals against) is equally impressive, with just 5.90 xGA in seven games. Only City and Brighton can do better. These underlying numbers suggest that Arsenal's good results are sustainable in the long term.

– Arsenal are playing the fewest long balls per game (48) of the 20 Premier League sides this season. Wenger would be proud.

– Arsenal players dribble more than anyone else in the Premier League. They average 11.3 dribbles completed per game, with the second best in this respect being Crystal Palace with 10.8. Jogo skipjack.

– Unsurprisingly, given their amount of dribbling, Arsenal players are also fouled more times per game (12.3) than players of any other team.

– Saliba's header from Bukayo Saka's corner was Arsenal's fifth from a free-kick this season, which is the best in the league with Liverpool and Spurs.

- Remarkably, the Brentford game was the first time Saka had two assists in a single Premier League game. Granted, Vieira did most of the heavy lifting for the second one, but they all matter, huh?

– Those two assists mean Saka now has five assists (four assists and one goal) in his last four Premier League appearances.

– Arsenal have 18 points from their first seven games. At this point last season they had 10, in 2020-21 they had 12, and in 2019-20 they also had 12. That's a serious step forward.

- Last but not least, Arsenal signed Ethan Nwaneri for his Premier League debut against Brentford. He is 15 years and 181 days old. He was born in 2007, after the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp and after the departure of Arsenal from ...