Arsenal thrashed Chelsea 5-0 last night to go top of the Premier League, with just four more games for them now as they show no sign of slowing down in this extremely tight race with Liverpool and reigning champions Manchester City.
The Gunners gave the ultimate response to their recent setbacks against Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, winning 2-0 away to Wolves with a scrappy but professional display before turning on the style at home to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium last night.
The 5-0 score-line gives Arsenal a welcome boost with regards to goal difference, as Mikel Arteta’s side are now comfortably ahead of their two rivals on that metric, meaning the title would go to them if all three teams finished level on points on the final day.
Man City will perhaps remain the slight favourites, but with Erling Haaland’s injury and the recent blow of losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League, things aren’t going entirely Pep Guardiola’s way as they were at this stage of last season, when the eventual treble winners were simply unplayable.
Are Arsenal now the team to fear?
Unlike this time last season, when Arsenal stumbled and a relentless City side overtook them on the way to their first of three trophies, it now looks like it’s Arteta’s men coming into form at just the right time.
Chelsea are clearly not at their best at the moment, but the manner in which Arsenal cut through them shows what this Gunners outfit is all about – City, after all, drew both league games against Mauricio Pochettino’s side and only scraped a 1-0 over them in the FA Cup semi-final a few days before last night’s game. Chelsea have also taken points off Liverpool and Manchester United this season, but they were simply blown away by Arsenal.
There will be harder tests ahead for AFC, but with City still having more games to play, including difficult trips to Brighton and Tottenham, it seems like it’s Arteta in the ascendency right now, giving Gooners the chance to start dreaming again.
What other title races still need to be resolved?
We’ve already seen champions crowned in Germany and Italy, with Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga and Inter Milan winning Serie A, though we’re still not quite done in Spain and France, where Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, are the favourites to finish in first place.
The Championship also looks like an interesting one to watch, with Leicester City now the favourites to win the title and earn automatic promotion back to the Premier League, though Leeds United aren’t entirely out of it yet either.
Fans will also surely be ready to make a mad dash for PlayOff Tickets soon as it looks like we’ll be seeing Ipswich Town, Southampton, West Brom and Norwich City battling it out for the final promotion place, though Hull City and Coventry City are not mathematically out of the running for a place in the playoffs just yet.
The Premier League title race, however, has been the most gripping all over Europe this season, and one of the closest we’ve seen anywhere for a long time, with it looking increasingly like we could see all three of Arsenal, City and Liverpool in with a chance of picking up the trophy on the final day.