Though Arsenal eventually ran out comfortable winners against West Ham on Boxing Day to go seven points clear at the top of the table, Hammers boss David Moyes still doesn't fancy their title chances.
Mikel Arteta's men have now played 15 games in the Premier League this season, winning 13, drawing one and tasting defeat just once - a loss that came away against Manchester United back in September. In turn, many fans and pundits alike have tipped the Gunners to finally end their lengthy, 18-year wait for a league title.
Despite watching his side get convincingly beaten by an in-form Arsenal, Moyes feels that reigning champions Manchester City will have too much for the Gunners to deal with in the title race.
Remarkably, Moyes also explained how Liverpool - who currently sit a whopping 15 points behind the Arteta's side, could still pose a threat to Arsenal's ambitions purely due to their recent experiences of being involved in a hard-fought title race.
Pressed for comment on whether he thinks his former Everton player Arteta could become a title-winning manager by the end of the current campaign, Moyes explained: "I think Mikel might go on to be one. Do I think they’re going to win it this year? I’m not sure.
"I think you’d be remiss if you don’t think of Man City. You’d be doing them down. They’ve got a fantastic team and there’ll be other teams that are a bit more used to being around the top, maybe a Liverpool later on."
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The Scotsman went on to claim that while Arteta certainly has the ability to win the league, the Spaniard will know as much as anyone that Pep Guardiola's City are the team to beat this term regardless of the fact they currently sit third.
"Not to say that Mikel isn’t building a side capable [of winning the title] but I think he’ll know that Man City will be the ones," Moyes added.
"They’ll come here and they’ll keep the ball off Arsenal. Arsenal kept the ball off us tonight, Man City will come here and keep the ball off Arsenal and it’ll become a different type of game for them."
He was certainly correct in his assessment of how the Gunners kept the ball off of his players, with a stellar second-half display ensuring Said Benrahma's first-half penalty to put West Ham in front eventually meant nothing.
Goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah were enough to ensure Arsenal maintained momentum and picked up from where they left off before the World Cup break.
Up next is the trickier test of a visit to Brighton, a side that has given the Gunners plenty of trouble in recent seasons and even dumped them out of the Carabao Cup just last month.
