Following their win over Brighton over the weekend, Arsenal are back on top of the Premier League standings after briefly slipping out of pole position.
The Gunners find themselves in a familiar position as the festive season approaches, as the North London club were atop the table after Christmas last year but a surging Manchester City usurped their poisition late in the campaign to claim their third straight league title.
A former defender for both clubs gives Arsenal a good chance at winning the league this season, depend on a few key factors.
Bacary Sagna was speaking to Paddy Power when he gave his reasons for why the Gunners are genuine contenders for the crown this season.
"Arsenal have another chance this season to fight for the title," Sagna said. "They have a good chance with Manchester City and Liverpool dropping points so if they manage to be consistent, and stay injury free, they can win the league.
“They’ve showed some consistency and quality offensively and they have great control of every game they play. They are smart and when they have to win ugly, they can do that too. They have the quality, the players, the coach and the structure to allow them to perform, and they are performing at the moment.
“But it’s the consistency, the most consistent team will win the league because other teams will drop points. But at some point in the season, there are so many games in lots of competitions and that can be tiring.
“We also saw Arsenal tire towards the end of the last season, and when it mattered most last year, they struggled to meet their potential and they let Manchester City back into it.
“I can’t rule City out yet, they had an amazing season last year and surely, they’re going to get back to their best at some point.”