We’ve been here before with Arsenal. A spectacular start to the season juxtaposed by a less spectacular finish, or in some cases vice versa. Their form seems to revolve around the Gregorian calendar rather than the Premier League’s and although 2015 has so far been a significant improvement upon 2014, it’s only what you do between the start of August and the end of May that matters in the Premier League title race.

It’s why pundits like Kevin Kilbane, who expressed his concerns in the MOTD studio on Saturday evening, are reluctant to back the Gunners’s title credentials despite their second-place standing, just two points behind favourites Manchester City. The former Everton and Sunderland midfielder clearly believes history is doomed to repeat itself.

But looking a little closer at the north London outfit this season, something is fundamentally different. We know of their attacking prowess, their quality in possession and since the turn of 2015 their improvement in defence. But the largest distinction between the current campaign and the title-less Arsenal of the last decade can be summarised in one word; ruthlessness – something particularly evident in their last two Premier League victories.

In my opinion, 3-0 is the perfect score for a title-contending side. It demonstrates the organisation required to keep a clean sheet and the attacking quality to put the game beyond doubt but most crucially the restraint to not chase after unnecessary goals once the result is already settled – an almost unquenchable lust that has caused Arsenal as much pain as pleasure in recent years.

It’s an efficient score line and a professional score line, asserting dominance whilst taking into account the widespread quality and unpredictable nature of the Premier League, so the fact Arsenal have now recorded it in consecutive league fixtures, against two completely different forms of opposition, certainly suggests there has been a change in mentality at the Emirates this term.

Before Watford came Manchester United, title-contending opposition Arsenal carved up in 20 minutes through an Alexis Sanchez brace and a Mesut Ozil strike somewhere in between. Yet the attacking dominance the Gunners showed wasn’t the real talking point; it was the hour after in which they held shape and controlled the match without controlling the ball that I found the most impressive. It’s the kind of game management Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea side were continuously lauded for throughout last season or perhaps more importantly, the kind of game management Arsenal have often been accused of naively lacking.

Upon facing the Hornets, likewise, it wasn’t simply a case of Arsenal showing up, running riot and trying to improve their goal difference as much as possible. They accepted Watford entered the fixture with the best defensive record in the Premier League and acted accordingly, keeping their foot on break in the first half knowing that the home side could prove incredibly difficult to come back against if they took a one-goal lead.

Instead, the Gunners waited for their first significant breakthrough of the match, Sanchez capitalising on Ozil’s penalty claim by blasting the ball into the net before the referee had the chance to blow his whistle, and then attacked like sharks smelling blood. It took eleven shots for Arsenal’s first goal, but only five to claim two more and put the game beyond doubt. Ruthless efficiency.

Sceptics will argue two fixtures don’t make a season and that is especially true in Arsenal’s case. Likewise, it wasn’t long ago the Gunners lost 2-0 to an out-of-sorts Chelsea, whilst back-to-back defeats against tepid Champions League opposition suggest there are still weaknesses, be they of mentality, philosophy or depth, within this Arsenal side.

Yet the subtle difference in tone at the Emirates this season is becoming increasingly prevalent. They’re more calculated, more precise and seemingly more focused on the challenge at hand. Whilst it’s still early days with 29 games left to play, the Gunners are shaping up to be – at the very least – Manchester City’s main competitors in the race for the Premier League crown.

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