Just four Premier League games remain before the season pauses temporarily for the winter World Cup in Qatar and Arsenal are in pole position to top the table at Christmas.
Having gone into this weekend's round of fixtures with a four-point lead over Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the Gunners simply must match or better the pair's results in the next three weeks to ensure they still lead the way when the competition resumes on Boxing Day (December 26).
The first part of the aforementioned challenge presents itself on Sunday as Arsenal face Southampton in their first return to St Mary's since that costly defeat towards the end of last season as Mikel Arteta's in-form side look to make it nine wins in a row across all competitions.
