Arsenal are sitting comfortably five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after 12 wins in 14 games and will remain league leaders at Christmas for the first time in 15 years.
The Gunners extended their lead at the top on the final weekend of Premier League football before the Qatar World Cup with a 2-0 win at Wolves. Manchester City, their closest rivals, were unable to keep the game to only two points after losing 2-1 to Brentford earlier in the day.
Mikel Arteta's men are enjoying their best start to life in a Premier League season but will have to wait six weeks until they return to action against West Ham. Despite being top of the table and only suffering one defeat, the Gunners remain many pundits' second favourite for the title.
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As Arteta plays down the excitement around a possible first title since 2004, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has admitted to taking the Gunners more seriously after their start to the season but still believes Pep Guardiola's men remain favourites.
"They're certainly sitting pretty at the top, aren’t they? A lot of people are thinking Arsenal are the real deal now and I’m one of them," Owen told Premier League productions.
"It’s crept up on us really. They have been steadily improving over the last few years but there’s been a massive improvement this season," Owen said.
"I still think that Manchester City are the best team, I still think that they are the favourites to win the title.
"But that defeat to Brentford has all of a sudden given a few teams that might have thought they were out of it a little gee up maybe."
Sky Sports' Gary Neville was in agreement with Owen's stance on the title race and remains confident that the Citizens will end up running away with things in May. "I said last week I thought City would win the title by 10-15 points and I’m going to hang in there with that prediction," he said on his podcast.
"Arsenal fans are killing me right now. I think they’re absolutely fantastic. They’re the best team in the league in the first 14 games by a mile.
"I was there in the first game and that first 25 minutes was electrifying between those front players, and they’ve maintained that. They’re really really good at the moment. They’ve got spirit, good football. I like what Jesus does.
"We won titles without players scoring 20-25 goals. Sometimes we had players not passing 15 goals. And what Jesus has done up front there is make the team better.
"I don’t think they’ll win the title, I think City will. I do think they’ll get into the top four.
"But I still think it will be interesting in February/March where they end up. I’ll say it time and time again until they prove me wrong. But, they’re the best team in the league now, the most consistent team."
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