MATHEMATICAL PROOF: ARSENAL WIN OVER SPURS MAKES TITLE RACE IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN
Arsenal's dominant 4-1 derby win over Tottenham positions them as clear Premier League favourites. With a 6-point lead and Europe's best defence, the title is now theirs to lose.
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A year back, Liverpool took down both Manchester City and Real Madrid in the same week. That City win gave the Reds a nine-point lead over Arsenal, who were second, while City, the title holders, lagged 11 points behind. Those games, along with a good November, showed that Liverpool was the top team in England (and maybe Europe for a bit). And they went on to win the league.
Now, Arsenal's 4-1 victory over Tottenham puts them six points ahead of Chelsea, who are second, seven points ahead of City, their main competition, and 11 points ahead of Liverpool, the current title holders. Just like Liverpool last year, the way the Gunners won the derby makes it clear that Arsenal is the best team in the league. They're one of the best in Europe too.
Unless they get hit with a ton of injuries or have a major collapse, Arsenal should be crowned champions in May. Maybe even sooner. Other than a lucky long-range goal from Richarlison, Arsenal totally crushed Spurs. It was a real beating. Eberechi Eze was amazing.
And this was an Arsenal team without key players like Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard. Both would have been playing if they were healthy. Also missing were Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Viktor Gyokeres. Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli were just back from injuries and started on the bench.
Those absences didn't matter at the Emirates. Sure, Spurs didn't put up much of a fight. But Arsenal destroyed them and played some great football. They could have scored six goals.
As for their competition? Liverpool is way out of the title race. City, with four losses in 12 games, isn't as unbeatable as it looked last season. Chelsea could still challenge Arsenal, but they have their own problems. They don't seem ready to win the league.
Arsenal has the best defence in the league, even without Gabriel, and maybe the best in Europe. And after easily beating a very defensive Spurs team, their next test is against Bayern Munich at the Emirates in the middle of the week.
Bayern is one of only three teams in the Champions League that have won all four of their games. They've scored three more goals but have also let in three, while Arsenal hasn't let in any in Europe. If they win that game, it'll be another big statement from the Gunners.
Next weekend, they play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. If they win that, Arsenal will almost have the trophy in their hands, just like Liverpool did last year. Things are going their way, with no top-tier title rivals, and Mikel Arteta and his staff deserve a lot of credit for dealing with so many injuries this season.
Arsenal has been preparing for this for a while. They can play beautiful football, like they did against Spurs, but they can also win a physical battle. If you try to park the bus and play for a draw, they'll probably just score from a set piece. They're pretty good at those.
Arteta's Arsenal has its critics, but they're a serious team. It's hard to see anything stopping them from winning the league title in the spring.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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