Arsenal Premier League title redemption possible after the Liverpool boost Mikel Arteta waited for

In a sense of serious irony, Aston Villa continue to have an enormous say on the Premier League title race. It was Unai Emery returning to the Emirates Stadium that saw Manchester City handed top spot at the end of last season and now, in the space of four weeks, they have levelled the playing field again.

Arsenal's 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium brought back flashes of their second-half collapse when losing 2-0 in the same fixture in mid-April 2024. The slipup there proved costly.

It was the only defeat between January 20 and May 19 that Mikel Arteta's side suffered in the league in the middle of a 12-game unbeaten run including 11 victories. They would also win the final five to take the race down to the wire but fell short to a relentless City.

Last month's failure to beat Villa from 2-0 up felt like a defining moment again. It came shortly after Liverpool had burgled a last-minute victory over Brentford and saw the gap at the top stand at six points but Arne Slot's side had a game in hand.

Arsenal, still yet to really hit top-form, had let the gap open up to Liverpool without putting up much resistance. Since then they have been perfect in terms of results, edging past Wolves, crushing City, and finding a way at Leicester City. Liverpool, conversely, have blinked.

The Reds have played five league games in the same period and won three, like Arsenal. The two draws, away to Everton in the postponed Merseyside derby, and then on Wednesday night at Villa Park, have opened the door ever so slightly.

The picture at the summit hasn't drastically changed but is enough to let Arsenal in. The Gunners are eight points behind instead of nine with a game in hand. It means that they could cut it down to just five when they claim that match back in mid-March on the weekend of the Carabao Cup final.

Arsenal host Chelsea that day, a fixture which has been extremely kind to them in recent years. On current form, Enzo Maresca's side are not much of a challenge, either. Arteta and Co showed last season how ruthless they can be with their rivals, battering Mauricio Pochettino 5-0 during the title run-in.

At that stage Arsenal were back to playing the leader. It is not a role they have enjoyed. The pressure that comes with staying at the top is often piercing. Being the challenger can sometimes be liberating.

Arteta's first title race, in 2022/23, was eventually suffocating as Arsenal felt the emotions and expectations overwhelmed a young team. They dropped off massively after an injury to William Saliba and were unable to regroup as City pounded their way towards a third league in a row at that point.

Last year things were different. A slower start and a mid-season stutter left Arsenal needing the big finish as part of a three-way fight for much of the campaign. As Liverpool, this time, fell away, Arsenal excelled as the chaser and were narrowly short in the end.

Now it is just a two-horse gallop. Arsenal know that they still have a big deficit to overturn in 14 league games, especially as Liverpool have only lost one match all season, but there are reasons for optimism.

As Slot tries to balance the Champions League and Premier League - as well as Carabao Cup final to come - there are new questions for him to answer in the final three months of the season. He has already seen his team crash out of the FA Cup at the hands of Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle, and this current patch of form is the most sticky he has had to overcome.

Arsenal know better than most what it is like to feel the heat at the top of the table and now have an unexpected chance to take advantage of that as they try to hunt down Liverpool. Arteta has been waiting for a show of weakness from the leaders and this result is a timely boost for his squad.

Now with even more to play for and the possible smell of fear, the prey have become the predators and they are certainly hungry.

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