As Manchester City drew against Everton at home and lost to archrivals Manchester United away, and Arsenal won at Tottenham in the North London derby and then beat United at the Emirates to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand, the thought suddenly began to crystallise: maybe this Arsenal are the real thing. Maybe they are not merely title contenders, but the favourites.
It is still relatively early days. Arsenal’s win over United was the halfway point of the season. Yet it took them to 50 points, making it one of the strongest first halves of a season in
