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Are the Gunners the only ones who can make this a legitimate title race?
Liverpool thoroughly outplayed Nottingham Forest this week, but could only manage a draw, their second in a row against the third-place team.
Chelsea and Manchester City could both only scratch out ties themselves, so they couldn’t take advantage of Liverpool dropping four points in the past two games.
Arsenal gutted out a tough, come-from-behind 2-1 win against bitter north London neighbour Tottenham.
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Arsenal sits second, still four points behind Liverpool, which still holds a game in hand. Obviously should Liverpool win that game in hand, to be played in mid-February against Everton, then it’s going to difficult to close a seven-point gap. But if Liverpool drops any points in that derby, Arsenal could be poised to strike.
There’s also the complication of the transfer window.
Arsenal is rumoured to have several deals incoming before the window closes at the end of the month while Liverpool has publicly stated it doesn’t expect incomings. The more tricky trap for Liverpool this month may be some in-house contract drama appearing to be taking its toll.
When Arne Slot fills out his starting lineup, the first three names on the teamsheet — Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold — all are out of contract and can leave for free at the end of the season.
Captain van Dijk has looked as good as he ever has, but Alexander-Arnold was poor in the draw against Manchester United, and Salah missed several quality chances against Forest that a month ago would most likely have been buried.
If that discord continues to impact the Reds, Arsenal is poised to reel them in and crank up the pressure.
Liverpool has had a mildly challenging schedule, but after Brentford on Saturday it faces Ipswich, Bournemouth (the one game against a team in the top half), Everton and Wolves.
Arsenal is going to have to keep pace through this stretch, the two teams don’t meet again until Arsenal go to Anfield on May 10 the third-to-last game of the season.
Unless Liverpool completely collapses, the atmosphere at that game is going to be bursting with energy and Arsenal will need serious nerve with the finish line in sight.
This weekend could be massive in the title race. Liverpool gets plucky Brentford in London — the Bees are coming off a 2-2 draw win Manchester City, but have only won once in their past six.
The Fubo Game of the Week clearly is Arsenal hosting Aston Villa.
The Villains have started to regain form after a five-game winless streak in December. They’ve won two in a row and have only lost twice in their past eight.
While Arsenal has looked much better the past couple of weeks, the Gunners still are missing injured winger Buyako Saka and don’t have much margin for error. To keep putting pressure on Liverpool, they have to continue to get wins and put a string together.
Still rock-solid at the back, they now have the best goals-against in the league, it’s getting the goals that turn draws into wins that will be the key for them the rest of the season.
Newcastle streaking
The Magpies are the league’s hottest team. They beat Wolves on Wednesday 3-0 to win their sixth game in a row and move into the top four, one point up on Chelsea and three ahead of Manchester City.
And ok, they’ve had a soft schedule (Wolves, Spurs, Manchester United, Villa, Ipswich and Leicester – only Villa are in the top 13 of that list) but you can only beat who is on the schedule and in particular Swedish striker Alexander Isak has been on fire. Isak now stands third in league scoring with 15 goals, three back of leader Salah.
Their game this weekend is sneaky good, they host Bournemouth who haven’t been beaten in their last nine games, five wins and four draws.
Spurs on their heels
Liverpool has lost only two games all season, one in the league to Nottingham Forest and one to Spurs in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal. The second leg is to be played in Liverpool on Feb. 6.
That win may be keeping Spurs manager Ange Postecoglu in a job. The popular Australian was seen as someone who could get Tottenham back into the Champions League this season, but they sit closer to relegation, eight points up, than the Top Four, 14 points back.
Spurs have won just once in their past nine and haven’t won back-to-back games since September.
While they played well at Arsenal on Wednesday in a 2-1 loss, they’ve lost the luxury of leaning on moral victories. Their next three matches are Everton, Leicester and Brentford.
Anything less than two wins and a draw and a new manager may be at the helm as they take on Liverpool in the semifinal second leg and their chance to win a first trophy in 16 years.
Bottom dwellers
Now that we’re in the second half of the season, it’s time to cast an eye down to the teams at the bottom under threat of relegation.
Southampton look as good as gone with just six points. But 19th-place Leicester, with 14, and 18th-place Wolves, with 16, have hope.
Ipswich also is on 16 points, ahead of Wolves on goal difference, and Everton is next with 17 points.
It’s time for one of these teams to make a move, Everton just changed managers, bringing back David Moyes, while Leicester already has fired its manager.
The major quandary for these clubs is if they spend money in this window to address their main issues. Wolves, clearly, need help at the back, where they’ve given up a league-worst 48 goals.
Everton has only surrendered 26 times, but with just 15 goals scored, sit second-last in that category to Southampton, who’ve scored just 12.
This weekend’s slate
Saturday: Newcastle v. Bournemouth; Brentford v. Liverpool; Leicester v. Fulham; West Ham; Crystal Palace; Arsenal v. Aston Villa.
Sunday: Everton v. Tottenham; Manchester United v. Brighton; Nottingham Forest v. Southampton; Ipswich v. Manchester City.
Monday: Chelsea v. Wolves.