Things continue to get interesting as Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all achieved narrow wins on Saturday, leaving just three points separating the top three in the Premier League.
All three Premier League title contenders won on Saturday, and the situation remained that way. Arsenal defended against Brighton, Manchester City thumped off Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa came from behind to beat Chelsea away.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners remain top of the table with 42 points after 18 games. City are two points behind and Villa are one point behind.
It’s all very delicately set up and to add to the drama, Unai Emery will take his Villa team to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. It was not the first time Emery had troubled his former employers, having already conceded one of their two defeats this season to his former club after Emi Buendia scored the late winner against West Midlands.
The season is long and not everything will be determined by the next game. First, the transfer window opens just two days after Arsenal host Villa, with both clubs and title rivals City having to make decisions about their respective teams.
So, what should we focus on in the title fight? Here, Mirror Football takes a closer look at what we should expect.
read more: Aston Villa manager Unai Emery makes surprise claim to fight for title ahead of huge clash with Arsenalread more: Compare the next five games between Arsenal, Man City and Aston Villa in the Premier League title race
Approaching six pointer
Arsenal were far from their best against Villa Park in early December, but they still came close to salvaging a point. Leandro Trossard briefly equalized after coming on from the bench, but Villa recovered in the closing stages to secure the victory.
Arteta’s side have been in the title race in each of the past three seasons, and the game against Villa has felt important time and time again. A dramatic 4-2 win at the end of 2023 looked like a genuine title claim for the Gunners, only for their title chase to collapse in the final stages of the season. Meanwhile, the defeat in April 2024 and the 2-0 collapse in January 2025 both hurt the London team in different ways.
Gabriel’s return may be the key for Arsenal this time. The Brazilian came off the bench against Brighton on Saturday after missing six league games with an injury on international duty, including the away game at Villa Park.
Big decisions for January
All three teams have benefited from January recruits in recent seasons. Trossard, Jorginho and Jakub Kivioglu will add depth to Arsenal in 2023, with City signing Omar Marmouche and Nico Gonzalez for a whopping £200m in January last year.
Villa continued to be busy during this period, picking up 29 points from 14 games following the loan spells of Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, leaving them within reach of qualifying for the Champions League. However, they are not the only ones who may have a busy time ahead.
The biggest question surrounds Antoine Semenyo, who is reportedly interested in joining City. It will cost £65m to bring the Ghana international to the Etihad Stadium, but he will arrive as a plug-and-play option who can make a difference when it comes to titles.
Arsenal have not ruled out further investment, but last season was far from Villa’s only big January. Starman Morgan Rodgers joined from Middlesbrough midway through the 2023/24 season, while John Duran was a big-money January signing in Emery’s first season in charge.
Despite Ollie Watkins scoring the winner against Chelsea on Saturday, Villa may feel they need another striker. Watkins and fellow frontman Donyell Malen have scored just nine league goals, with Villa’s total return of 29 goals the lowest of any of the current top six sides.
Injury could be the key
Arsenal will be without Julian Timber and Riccardo Calafioli against Brighton on Saturday, as well as Ben White and Cristian Mosquera, making for a weak backline.
However, Kai Havertz is close to returning and Gabriel Jesus’ form since recovering from a long-term injury has impressed Arteta. “I think in Gabriel we have a player who can offer a lot to the team and he proved that right away in the first moment he was available,” said the manager, who all but ruled out leaving in January.
City will be without Omar Marmouche and Rayan Ayet-Nouri for as long as their countries are in the African Cup of Nations, but John Stones and Jeremy Doku could return early from their injury absences. Villa are also without several players, including Evan Guesand, who was called up late to AFCON.
The key for all three players is not just the absence itself, but how they deal with it. Last season, Arsenal ultimately lost momentum due to injuries to Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, which left their first-team squad stretched to the limit, and they will want to avoid a repeat of that.
next 5 games
Arsenal and Villa may not be looking beyond the Villa game for now, but there is plenty to be wary of ahead of them. They also have Bournemouth (a), Liverpool (h), Nottingham Forest (a) and Manchester United (h) in their ranks, and may be grateful to be able to play against Liverpool when the champions are without both Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak.
City’s next game will be an away match against Sunderland, who have exhausted their strength in the Africa Cup of Nations, before facing Chelsea (H), Brighton (H), Man United (A) and Wolves (H). The Manchester derby looms large, especially given United’s recent budding form.
As for Villa, the three points they picked up against Arsenal will likely draw even more attention to their upcoming games. Our opponents are Nottingham Forest (h), Crystal Palace (a), Everton (h) and Newcastle (a), all of whom we won a total of 6 points from last season.
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