Arsenal are enjoying great form under Arteta this season and can rest easy at the International Break with five points clear of Man City. Arsenal positive trend gives Man City a new competitor, Arsenal have developed well from previous seasons and they no longer look nervous when dealing with big teams. This season has been very difficult to stop Arsenal in their tracks, they have won 12 of the 14 Premier League games so far, Arteta's side have only drawn once and lost once.
Arteta duties are still very much after the end of the international break, Arsenal need to maintain their performance to break Man City's dominance in the Premier League.
I quite appreciate their current performance, Arteta was able to change Arsenal's game with amazing results. But even so I'm not so sure Arsenal will be able to maintain its position at the top of the standings. Because they have to prove it when they meet Manchester City, if they are able to get past City's obstacles then their motivation will double and the chance to win the championship will be more open.
The changes Arteta has made have been very impressive so far, even though at first he had bad results in a row but over time Arteta was able to prove the progress he made was very good for Arsenal with his young squad. I don't imagine, if this season Arsenal doesn't get good performance like this and also the other teams are experiencing a decline in performance, then it can be a good thing for Manchester City.
But yes, Manchester City still can't progress smoothly to become the top of the Premier League standings this season, because currently there are at least two teams that are experiencing rapid improvement, they are Arsenal and Newcastle.
Even though Newcastle still haven't touched second place, but with a gap of only two points, Manchester City's position is not completely safe.
the competition this season is very interesting because we don't see Chelsea and Liverpool as title contenders, but the contenders in the title race this season are teams that were previously not predicted to be able to compete at the top.