Viktor Gyokeres is the club’s only fit forward [Jay Patel/SPP]

ARSENAL head to Burnley this Saturday as clear favourites – not just to pick up the three points, but to lift the Premier League title, too.

We’re not even a third into the season yet and pundits, journalists and supporters – at least those fans not afraid to jinx anything – are ready to hand the Gunners the silverware.

And it’s easy to see why. Mikel Arteta’s expensively-assembled squad travels to Turf Moor four points clear at the top of the table.

The metrics also make scary reading for their rivals: Arsenal boast the meanest defence in Europe, and have covered more ground this season than any other team in the division.

Quizzed on all the noise surrounding the club, Arteta said: “That’s what we want. I think when our people are excited and when we see that the team is competing at this level consistently, they are the right reasons to believe.

“You want to win big trophies. You have to install that feeling amongst the team, the club and around it, and we’re in a really good position at the moment. But we know how early it is and how difficult every game is.

“It’s such a big club that obviously we make a lot of noise, whether it’s good or bad. But that means that people are paying attention. We know our history and that’s very normal. Hopefully, we make noise for the good things.”

So far, Arsenal are coping well despite all their injuries, picking up results without the services of skipper Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus.

There are also question marks surrounding the fitness of William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli after the pair were forced to miss the Carabao Cup clash against Brighton.

Asked if he can relax now he has such strength in depth, Arteta said: “That word ‘relax’ in football is impossible. We’re going to try to manage the minutes and the loads as best we can because we have a lot of games coming up with a very short recovery time, which is a bit unusual, but we’re going to remain competitive.”

Citing the need to protect Viktor Gyokeres in particular as the club’s only fit forward, Arteta added: “In the front lines especially, that’s where we have more difficulties with Noni, Kai and Gabi Jesus out, [and now] with Gabi Martinelli out as well. So that’s the area that we have to be more careful, more conscious, because we don’t have that many options.

“So, as I said before, we are going to try to manage the load as good as possible to make sure that the players are fresh.”