The renewed goal threat which sees Portsmouth rubbing shoulders with Manchester City, Sheffield United, Bristol City and the most potent sides in English football

And the stats are backing up that the Blues’ flying start to the campaign has been more than justified.

When it comes to league goal threat, Danny Cowley’s men have rattled in 15 finishes to date with those efforts coming from all over the pitch.

That number is unsurpassed in League One, with leaders Ipswich Town and Peterborough United both one behind from seven games.

But it’s in fact the fourth highest league return in the top four tiers of English football.

Manchester City have bettered that with 20 goals from six games, while in the Championship both Bristol City and Sheffield United have hit 16 goals - but played a game more than Cowley’s men.

It’s not just in the goals scored column where Pompey are impressing.

Their expected goals (xG), the metric which assigns a value between zero and one on all chances depending on their quality, is the best in the division.

Pompey’s 15 goals is actually outperforming their xG of 13.6 from their seven League One fixtures to date,

That number remains the highest in League One, however, and is bettered by just five clubs in English football - Manchester City, Liverpool, Norwich, West Brom and Mansfield.

In a similar fashion to xG, xGA measures the number of goals a side is expected to concede based on the quality of opponents’ chances.

Pompey xGA is 6.42 - so below the goal-a-game threshold many managers look to achieve.

Again that figure stacks up well, with only Oxford (4.52) bettering it in League One so far.

There are also eight other teams in the top four divisions with a better figure than Cowley’s men - Manchester City, Arsenal, Brighton, Carlisle, Newport County, Walsall, Mansfield and Stevenage.

Pompey’s pressing may not quite reach the levels of last season, according to the numbers, but it still shapes up well.

Their passes per defensive action (PPDA), which calculates how proactive a side is in winning the ball back, is the fourth best in League One at 12.9. That comes in at the 10th highest in the top four divisions.

And of course the stat which really counts is those 17 points already in the bag amid that impressive start for Cowley’s men.