The Gunners maintained their momentum domestically with a hard fought 2-0 win at Crystal palace this weekend. They maintained their two points cushion over nearest rivals Liverpool, and also saw another rival Manchester City drop points at Chelsea. These rounds of fixtures saw Arsenal sustain their place at the top of the table, which also saw a lot of upward and downward movements.

There are some sections of fans who are detracting from Arsenal’s current form and feel that their league leader status is only because of a comparatively easy start to the season. Out of their nine domestic league games, they have only played one big team, Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium which they won 1-0.

Arguments are being made which say that other rivals have played against each other on more than one occasion, and that’s why they have dropped points. However, the next few weeks will be Arsenal’s true test of mettle. They have a grueling fixture line up, starting with tomorrow night’s clash against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup. They then welcome Liverpool in the league, jet off to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund next mid-week, only to come back and travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United.

They also play Napoli away and Manchester City before the end of the year, therefore many are expecting them to drop points in the process. Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker is not keen on surrendering the first spot in the league, and has urged his team-mates to stick together and fight for each other, if they want to brave this upcoming storm.

ESPNFC report him as saying, “The games coming up will be the big test,”

“I think we have surprised a few people already this season. But we need to surprise them more and keep applying the pressure on all the teams chasing us. And that is going to be difficult.”

“We wanted to come back as a strong unit as quickly as possible after the defeat by Dortmund. What we showed against Palace was a good enough response for now but there will be many more tests to come which will be crucial for the rest of the season.”

Do you see Arsenal coming out of this heavy period pf fixtures and still emerging as the league leaders?