Despite being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League at the start of September, Arsenal are now in the driving seat for a place in the top four under Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal are one point ahead of Manchester United who are battling the Gunners for the final Champions League spot, but Arteta's side have three games in hand.
The Gunners have seen a major turn of form and a vast improvement after Arteta's six summer signings started to gel at the Emirates, even though no new faces were brought in during the January transfer window.
And three stars have been identified as Arteta's crucial men amid a new "foundation" at the club.
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Arsenal's 2-0 win against Leicester kept up an impressive winning run under Arteta, as the Gunners have taken maximum points from their last five Premier League matches to maintain their charge for the top four.
Attacking stars such as Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette continue to dominate the headlines, but it's some or Arsenal's more defensive assets that have been singled out for assisting the Gunners' rise.
That's according to Micah Richards, who thinks that centre-back pairing Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes have been integral to Arsenal's success, and even Granit Xhaka was mentioned after the Swiss international bounced back from a difficult period.
Richards said following Arsenal's win over Leicester: "You have to start with the foundations and you look at the partnership of White and Gabriel at the back. It is 12 clean sheets now in 23 games which is excellent.
"You can talk about the attacking talent that they have, but you have to have that foundation. Xhaka as well, he has had his fair share of stick in the past but today he was excellent, dominating that midfield.
"He was always in the right positions when Leicester had possession in midfield. They have the base to allow the talent to go and do, what they need to do."
Arsenal are now heavy favourites to make the top four due to their numerical advantage over United, West Ham and Tottenham, who are also battling for that one final top four place, with Chelsea almost assumed to secure third.
But even Thomas Tuchel will be aware that Arsenal are putting their position under threat, as the Gunners have two games in hand on them as well, and if they win those then they will only be two points behind the Blues.
Their games in hand are no easy task though, as they welcome Premier League title chasers Liverpool on Wednesday, before travelling to face an in-from Aston Villa side on Saturday.
Arsenal also have to face United at the end of April, and depending on how other results go until then, it could be the ultimate grudge match for fourth spot, between two heated rivals.
