Premier League title race: can Brighton catch Arsenal?

Arsenal are five points clear after ten games, Brighton are second and Man City have lost three in a row. How the Premier League title race looks at the break.

Ten games in, the Premier League title race already has a clear leader, a surprise challenger and a giant that has started to wobble. Arsenal sit five points clear at the international break.

Manchester City, perfect for seven games, have lost three in a row. It is far too early to hand anyone the trophy.

But the shape of the season is starting to show, and some of it is not what most of us expected in August. Premier League title race: the top five Here is how the top of the Premier League table looks after ten games.

Pos Team W-D-L GD Pts 1 Arsenal 9-0-1 +10 27 2 Brighton 7-1-2 +19 22 3 Man City 7-0-3 +8 21 4 Liverpool 5-3-2 +4 18 5 Chelsea 5-1-4 +3 16 Arsenal: winning without fuss The champions have won nine of their ten league games. Their only defeat was a 3-0 loss at Brighton in September, and they have won every league game since.

That is the response of a side that knows exactly what it is. They are not running riot in front of goal.

Fifteen scored is fewer than Brighton, City or Chelsea. But they have conceded just five, the best record in the division, and that is where titles are usually won.

More telling is who has been doing it. Alan Shearer named Ezri Konsa, the £55m summer signing from Aston Villa, as his player of the season so far, saying Arsenal had barely missed the injured William Saliba.

When you lose a defender of that class and keep winning, you have real depth. Their first test after the break is a tricky one.