Arsenal FC: 3 Reasons Why Gunners Are Favorites to Win the Premier League Title

If back in August someone told you Arsenal would be four points clear at the top of the table come December, you'd call that person insane.

In football, a lot can change in a few months—for Arsenal, it almost seems like a new era has begun since that 3-1 loss at home to Aston Villa in the opening game of the season. 

The signing of Mesut Ozil has lifted the entire club, and although the German is taking some time to settle in England, he's the type of player whose presence seems to make players around him perform better.

Despite Arsenal remaining at the top of the table for well over a month, there are still people who doubt the Gunners' ability to challenge for the title, let alone win it. About a month ago, The Telegraph's Alan Hansen stated that, despite Arsenal's position in the table at the time of writing, he was standing by his initial prediction of the Gunners finishing in fourth place.

While people continue to doubt their title credentials, Arsenal continue to sweep teams aside with slick, free-flowing football.

Here's why Arsenal aren't just title contenders, but favorites to lift the trophy next May for the first time since 2004.

Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are the most solid defensive partnership in the Premier League

The transformation of Arsenal's defense over the past few years has been nothing short of remarkable.

Back in Arsenal's 2010-11 campaign they conceded a rather large 43 league goals, and followed it up the following season conceding 49. That's roughly 1.1 and 1.3 goals conceded per game, respectively.

The first half of last season saw the same issues persist—that is, before captain Thomas Vermaelen was dropped following a calamitous campaign of errors and blunders. Once Mertesacker and Koscielny were established as the club's first-choice center-back pairing, they haven't looked back. Arsenal finished last season with 37 goals conceded—just below one goal conceded per match.

This season has seen the pair really flourish, with Mertesacker in particular impressing. Although he initially took some time adapting to English football mainly due to his lack of pace, the former Werder Bremen man has now developed into one of the most consistent defenders in the league, making up for his shortage of speed with astute reading of the game that's truly second to none.

Laurent Koscielny, on the other hand, complements the German international perfectly. The Frenchman is as quick as any defender around, rushing into tackles and interceptions whereas Mertesacker stays more conservative. 

Aside from Arsenal's 1-0 loss at Manchester United, Mertesacker and Koscielny have started every Premier League match together so far this season. It's down to them that the Gunners have the joint best defensive record in the league, having conceded 10 goals in 13 league games—roughly 0.77 goals per game.

Arsenal seem to have finally fixed the defensive issues that have plagued them for years, and this newfound solidity at the back can serve as the foundation for the team's success.

Arsene Wenger is the best manager in the Premier League

It would've been an incredibly bold statement a few years ago, but now that Sir Alex Ferguson has retired, is there any better manager in the Premier League than Arsene Wenger?

The Frenchman has received his fair share of criticism due to Arsenal's eight-season trophy drought—the final whistle of Arsenal's 3-1 loss to Aston Villa in August was met with fans chanting "spend some f****** money" towards the legendary manager.

Then, just when the footballing world was beginning to doubt if Wenger still had his touch, he pulled off the signing of the summer with the deadline day purchase of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid. Sure, the club could've used another striker and probably another central defender, but there's no undermining the effect Ozil has had at the Emirates, both on and off the pitch.

And then there's Mathieu Flamini, the free signing that's beginning to look like highway robbery. Although he's not been talked about nearly as much as Ozil, the signing of Flamini is arguably just as brilliant.

In Arsenal's midfield brimming with creativity and attacking verve, a player like Flamini is needed to do the "dark side" of the game. The Frenchman flies into tackles, barks orders left and right and, admittedly, picks up a booking just about every game (that's probably an area of his game he should improve).

The Arsenal manager we're seeing now seems to be a new Wenger—or old, depending on which way you look at it. He goes about his interviews and behaves on the touchline in the same confident, arrogant manner the Wenger of the Invincibles era did.

Some may argue for Jose Mourinho or even Manuel Pellegrini, but in the tactical nous, intelligence and experience of Arsene Wenger, Arsenal have the best manager in the Premier League.

Aaron Ramsey is (currently) the best player in the Premier League

It would be redundant to rattle off superlatives about Aaron Ramsey at the moment due to the constant praise he's receiving this season, so here it is simply put: Ramsey is currently the best player in the Premier League.

While his goals—he's now at 13 in all competitions—have certainly been impressive, there's more to Ramsey's form than just his propensity for finding the back of the net.

To start with, Ramsey is one of the most efficient passers in the Premier League. He's completed 939 passes already this season, the second-highest in the league only behind Yaya Toure. As if that wasn't enough, his tackling is incredible too—Ramsey's 58 tackles so far this season is the highest in the Premier League, averaging 4.5 per game.

When Ramsey was scoring goals for fun earlier this season, many people doubted he could sustain that type of form over the entire campaign. Well, it's now a third of the way through the season, and the former Cardiff City man is showing no real signs of slowing down.

If  Ramsey really can carry on his form until next May, Arsenal have a serious shot at winning the title as they'll have the player of the season on their side.

Nobody seems willing to believe it, but all of the pieces are in place for Arsenal to win the title this season. Can they really do it? Leave your opinions and feedback in the comments below.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.