Arsenal had a near flawless 2013 calendar year, which all started after that morale lifting 2-0 win at Bayern Munich in March. Since then, the Gunners have been virtually unplayable – bar a few occasional dips like the opening day defeat against Aston Villa and the 6-3 loss at Manchester City – which have however not really had much of a bearing overall.

Their form did suffer a slight dip in the latter half of December as they were held to back to back draws against Everton and Chelsea and losses against Napoli and Manchester City; but they have once again changed things around as 4 successive wins have seen them reclaim top spot in the table. Arsenal are now gradually becoming the favorites for many to finally end their trophy drought.

Arsenal’s stand-in skipper Arteta feels that their stunning 2013 form has seen opposing teams view the London giants in a different light altogether, and give them a certain amount of respect, which he feels is fully deserved, as ESPNFC report. The Spaniard spoke to the club’s official website and he said, “I think teams are showing us more respect because we are the most consistent team in England through the last year.”

“We are where we deserve to be. We had a little spell where we had a difficult time but we’ve come back, we’re on four wins in a row and we’re feeling good.”