Arsenal slipped up badly against Middlesbrough, taking only one point from a team which has struggled all season. But fans shouldn’t despair. The Gunners still have a solid run of easy looking fixtures coming up, and they are still joint top of the league.
A league cup game against Reading is followed by games against Sunderland, Bournemouth, West Ham and Stoke. Even a game against Manchester United in the midst of the run looks significantly less scary after their drubbing at Chelsea yesterday. They play a dangerous Tottenham side too, but they are at home and should be confident of at least a point.
As long as Arsene Wenger’s men bounce back from the weekend’s disappointment in style and manage to build some momentum, they should still go into December in good position, with their rivals in touching distance at the very least. If they let it get to them, their title run could be over before it ever truly got going.