Tottenham have had a record-breaking start to the 2023-24 Premier League season, sitting atop the standings heading into the international break.
Saturday’s 1-0 win at Luton Town, despite playing the entire second half with 10 men, kept them unbeaten after eight games and gave them the most points at this stage of a season in Premier League history.
Their north London rivals Arsenal moved to 20 points after winning their first league game against Manchester City since 2015.
For the Gunners, this is familiar territory from last season, and Mikel Arteta’s team will not get carried away, knowing that they were one point ahead of City at this point last season.
They eventually lost form at the conclusion of the season and ended fifth in the league, five points behind Pep Guardiola’s champions. This time, they may also have to deal with Tottenham.
The north London rivals, who played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in September, have nearly similar records.
Both have won six and drawn two games, and they have the same goal difference (+10), but Spurs are ahead because of the goals scored column, with 18 to Arsenal’s 16. Spurs are in unfamiliar territory only eight league games into manager Ange Postecoglou’s stint.
Tottenham had never accumulated 20 points from their first eight Premier League games prior to this season, but they have done so under the Australian after winning six and drawing two.
The statistics indicate that they are heavily favored to finish in the top four, although it is worth remembering that their schedule has included games against all three of last season’s promoted sides.
Since the first Premier League season in 1992-93, 28 clubs have earned 20 points or more after eight games, with 11 of those teams going on to win the title.
The start is also an early vindication of Postecoglou’s appointment, which had been questioned by certain pundits. The style of play is also markedly different from those of predecessors Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.
Conte was in charge for the bulk of last season, with interim managers Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason, as Spurs finished ninth and missed out on a place in Europe for the first time since 2009-10.
Returning to the Champions League would have been considered a success even before a ball was kicked, and the precedents are favorable here as well.
With the exceptions of Newcastle in 1994-95 and Aston Villa in 1998-99, 93% of clubs that have previously reached 20 points at this time have finished in the top four.
