‘Arsenal deserve to be clear – but who’s best placed to challenge?’

For Chelsea, their lack of discipline is something that needs to change if they are to challenge for the title. All the teams that are chasing Arsenal have things they need to work on.

A Chelsea player has been sent off four times in the last thirteen Premier League games due to Moises Caicedo’s dismissal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against the Gunners.

Malo Gusto received one of those red cards against Forest, but it came so late that the outcome was irrelevant. They have been a man down for a significant portion of the game against Manchester United, Brighton, and now Arsenal.

Chelsea will be happy with a point in the endgame when they defeat Arsenal thanks to their reaction when they face off against 10 men and the goal. The Gunners were unable to open them up, so they made it difficult for them even when they did concede.

However, I still believe Blues manager Enzo Maresca will view it as a missed opportunity to close the gap between the leaders because of the way his team played with ten men.

In three of their first eight matches last year, Arsenal dropped points in three of those three occasions after receiving a man sent off, which was costly red cards in the title race.

However, they have much better disciplinary practices this year. In a feisty London derby on Sunday, they did indeed receive six yellow cards, but they kept 11 players on the field.

Before the season began, I didn’t have Chelsea down as title contenders because I already had them in the top four, but I later discovered they surprised me there when they won the Club World Cup.

Even though Sunday’s game was first versus second heading into the weekend, it probably suits them that no one really has them down as title contenders right now.

Do I believe they will win the Premier League from here despite their draw, which they are still in? No, I don’t.

Do they have a chance? Of course, they would need to improve more than just their criminal history, of course.

Out of the rivals in the chasing pack, Aston Villa are arguably in the best form. Recently, Unai Emery’s side have been fantastic and are currently in excellent form.

Only the Gunners among the top five last year have found consistency; all other four teams have been inconsistent, including Chelsea and Liverpool and Newcastle.

I still don’t see Liverpool returning to the title race until after they won an important victory on Sunday, though.

Instead, they should have enough talent in their squad to reach the Champions League, which is what they should aim for.

I also watched their match against West Ham as part of Match of the Day. After a run of form, the Reds were at the point where a strong performance was all that was required.

They ended up having both. Because Arne Slot was under pressure and made a significant decision to leave Mohamed Salah out, it turned out to be a crucial three points.

Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool as well, which was fantastic. Both he and Liverpool fans had to wait longer than they would have liked for it.

His brilliant half-volley goal against West Ham, which was also crucial, changed the game, and it was also a crucial one.

Without a doubt, Isak’s quality is there, so it was surprising to see him discard such a clever strike.

Arsenal’s status as the rivalry continues this weekend, but that hasn’t changed.

You could argue that Chelsea’s 10 men could have done more, and they might be disappointed that they didn’t have more chances to create chances after receiving a red card and only got a draw.

However, looking at the bigger picture, they have overcome a difficult week in the Champions League and Premier League with convincing victories over Bayern Munich and Tottenham, and they have now drawn one point clear of the table’s leaders.

Without them, they conceded from a Chelsea set-piece and didn’t appear to be their usual threat from their own, which is a coincidence given that they were missing both of their first-choice center-halves, Gabriel and William Saliba, in the match against Chelsea.

Another reason why Arteta won’t consider the outcome as two points dropped by upholding this point will be seen as positive.

Arsenal are currently five points clear of the Premier League’s top scorers after their previous two away draws. Despite this, they are still the most consistent team in the division.

The current league table does not and never does. They are going to take some catching because they have been the standout side so far, and they deserve to be where they are.