At this stage last season Liverpool were top, with five wins out of five, and Tottenham were third. Given that they finished fifth and 17th respectively, it shows that the table shouldn't be taken too seriously this early on. While any statistics should be taken with a pinch of salt - given such a small sample size of games and the fact that some teams have had more difficult starts than others - they do provide a more accurate picture of how the season could unfold.
Expected goals (xG) tells us how much teams have dominated games, based on the number and quality of shots they've taken and faced. Basically, how well they've performed in general before finishing, shot-stopping and plain old luck come into play. And Premier League history shows us that the more a team dominates games, the more points they win in the long run.
It's best to exclude penalties as refereeing decisions and defensive clumsiness give a false impression of how good teams actually are at attacking and defending, especially at this early stage. Champions Arsenal may have suffered their biggest defeat in three years last weekend at Brighton but they've still been the best team overall based on xG difference. Leaders Manchester City are not too far behind them in terms of how much they've dominated their games, while there's nothing fortunate about unbeaten Brentford's impressive start to the season.
Manchester United constantly seem to flip between feast and famine, when often they've simply been fine. Despite their underwhelming start, only three teams have a higher xG difference so far. The likes of Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have also been better than their position in the early table suggests.
At the other end, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Newcastle have been the least impressive in terms of their overall performance, with the latter perhaps the most surprising given their position in the top half. It's still early days, so there's no need to panic just yet, but it shows that those teams have a lot of room to improve - something Villa did to great effect after a slow start last season by finishing fourth. Worryingly for the established sides though, the promoted teams seem like they won't be going down without a fight, with both Hull and Ipswich making genuinely solid starts to the campaign.
Looking at teams' numbers going forward, Brighton have the best attack so far based on the number and quality of chances they've had, followed by Manchester City, Brentford and Manchester United. Although the Gunners are more admired for their defensive prowess, it's still surprising that eight teams have a higher xG than champions Arsenal, while Liverpool and Chelsea also rank in mid-table. Brighton not only have the highest xG but have also been one of the most ruthless sides in front of goal, scoring 15 non-penalty goals from their 10.7 xG.
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