Anything can happen. Last season, many people thought that the championship was firmly in Arsenal's hands, it would be difficult for any team to win it, but you already knew what happened. Therefore, I think this time Arsenal may have learned the lesson of last season, and be much more cautious in each of their matches. It will not be pleasant at all when this time they continue to lose the championship to Mancity, when they are in the top of the rankings. Arsenal's current form is somewhat better than Mancity and Liverpool. Their immediate challenge is the upcoming direct confrontation with Mancity. They need to focus on this decisive match before thinking about further things.
I don't agree that Arsenal are in better shape than City or Liverpool, it looks like all three teams are in great shape at the moment. There are 10 rounds left until the end of the season, it will take several months, and I think a lot can change during this time. Guardiola always calculates his strength in such a way as to end the season at the peak of the team's condition, but Arteta had big problems with this at the end of last season.