With Manchester United and Chelsea losing to Newcastle United and Stoke City respectively, and Manchester City drawing against Southampton, Arsenal had a great opportunity to go 7 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

And with 9 minutes of yesterday’s encounter remaining, it looked like Arsenal had managed just that. But just 4 minutes after opening the scoring Gerard Depardieu popped up with the equaliser.

But with seconds remaning, Olivier Giroud almost scored a dramatic winner with a stunning volley which smashed against the bar.

If that went in, it would have taken the roof off The Emirates.

Some Arsenal fans are pleased that they managed to eventually break down a stubborn Everton side, and that Arsene Wenger “went for broke” and went with an almost game-changing triple substitution. It was Rosicky who chipped the ball into the far post, and Theo who headed across the danger area for Ozil to score.

But others are frustrated at having the win within our grasp, only for us to concede an equaliser soon after scoring. For me, Everton are one of the best footballing sides in the Premier League this season, and both sides showed a lot of attacking possession.

I more than anyone was frustrated at conceding after we should have “seen it out” but it wasn’t as if we dominated the game and gave away a sloppy equaliser. Everton came at us all game and there were other times in the match where they probably deserved to score.

As it is, objectively a point each was probably a fair result. Obviously we would have loved to hold on and take home all 3 points but as this Premier League season has shown, anything can happen. Some of the points Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have all lost this season have been shocks but yesterday wasn’t one of them. Everton are a top side and don’t forget we have a much more demanding schedule than they do. I believe that in retrospect, people will see this as a good point.

Another criticism was our defending for the goal. I think that’s a bit harsh as Szczesny and the back four in 2013 have been pretty much impeccable. Jenkinson did well in Sagna’s absence and Gibbs has been excellent also. We all know about the Mertesacker-Kocielny partnership and the Big Pole has really matured into one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

So there’s a lot to be positive about. How many Arsenal fans would have believed this summer that on December 9th we would be 5 points clear at the top of the league? I think it’s safe to say, that the total number would have been zero.

People who regularly read my Twitter feed and this blog, will know that something that annoys me are the “football experts”, especially those on BBC’s Match of the Day, who still refuse to acknowledge that Arsenal are capable of winning the Premier League.

And as I sit here writing this, Manchester United are 9 points behind us (despite beating us at Old Trafford and “kickstarting” their season) and Tottenham, with a superior squad to ours are 10 points behind. Liverpool are currently losing to Hull City, and Chelsea and Manchester City have yet to play. And even if they win their games, we will still finish the weekend 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The “reasons” Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy and co. believe that Arsenal can’t win it is because we have yet to beat the “top teams”. And that if Arsenal suffer an injury to Olivier Giroud, then our season will be over.

However, I’ve come up with 10 reasons why Arsenal fans can be optimistic and can at least consider themselves genuine title contenders:

1. Mesut Özil

We have been crying out for a world class player for along time and he arrived this summer, in the form of German International Mesut Özil. We needed someone to give the whole club a lift and he has done that. He has the best assist record in Europe, ahead of Messi and Ronaldo, and has already assisted a high number of goals for Arsenal in his short time here. Was he worth the £42.4 million we paid for him? You bet, and he is only going to get better and better.

2. Our Defence

Since the start of 2013, we have had the best defensive record in the league and that has continued into this season. The central-defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny has been unbelievably solid and Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs have been equally fantastic. Conceding stupid goals is now (hopefully) a thing of the past.

3. Wojciech Szczesny

The 23 year old Pole is arguably the best goalkeeper in the league. So many times this season, he has made some vital saves and yesterday was no exception. As Arsenal were leading 1-0 against Cardiff City, Campbell had a header saved on the line which would have been the equaliser. Fortunately, Szczesny made a fantastic save and we went on to win 3-0. More and more this season he is being asked questions and every single time he is getting the answers spot on.

4. The Strength of our Squad

We may be slightly light in the striker department but we have adequate cover in most positions. We have Jenkinson and Monreal to cover the full back positions, Sanga can fill in at centre-back and we of course have Thomas Vermaelen who can cover. In midfield, we almost have an embarrassment of riches, with Flamini, Arteta, Cazorla, Özil, Wilshere, Ramsey, Gnabry and Rosicky available for selection – and that doesn’t include Oxlade-Chamberlain and Diaby who have yet to come back from injury. We also have Theo who has just come back, and Lukas Podolski who should be back in a few weeks.

5. Our Midfield Options

As I’ve already mentioned, our midfield options are plentiful and Arsene Wenger has a selection problem most weeks. We have Arteta and Flamini who can play in the defensive midfield role, and Cazorla, Özil, Wilshere, Ramsey and Rosicky who can play further up the pitch. In most of the games we’ve played this season, and whoever has been selected, we have still managed to play our expansive, attacking football. There is a fantastic understanding between this group of players and they have the belief they can do something special.

6. Everyone is “Writing Us Off”

With no-one really taking us seriously for the Premier League, that is to our advantage. I’ve always said this season that the longer people write us off, the better. The pressure is off the squad and we can keep going about our business and picking up points. I’ve been saying for a while now, by the time everyone starts taking us seriously, it will be too late.

7. We Beat the “Lesser Teams” in The League

A big criticism is that we can’t beat the big teams. We’ve played Liverpool and Tottenham this season and beaten them, and lost to Manchester United. That means we still have to play Chelsea and Manchester City. We were under the weather against Manchester United (and unlucky with those Sagna crosses which should have been converted) and the fact is because we’re top, we don’t need to beat Chelsea or Manchester City. Teams like West Brom, Cardiff City and Southampton have taken points off Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool and West Brom apart, we’ve beaten them. When people say Arsenal haven’t beaten any “big sides” yet, they conveniently forget that the other title contenders keep dropping points against the “lesser sides”, and we are not.

Manchester United apparently “kick-started” their season after beating Arsenal at Old Trafford, yet several weeks later we are now 9 points clear of them instead of 5. Hmm…

8. Aaron Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey has really made the Arsenal midfield his own and been sensational this season, continuing the excellent form from the tail end the last campaign. He has now completely recovered, physically and mentally, from his horrific injury and is more than fulfilling his potential. His form has had a knock-on effect on players like Jack Wilshere, who look at the Welshman and step up their game as well. We all know about Ramsey’s form and goals but of late, Wilshere has been chipping in with some quality goals of his own.

9. Superstition

If you’re superstitious, and I am, then you would look to the 10 year anniversary from the last time we won the league, with The Invincible’s. Also that season, we had an iconic yellow away kit which I’m sure most Arsenal fans have fond memories of. Could it mean something? Who knows.

10. We Don’t Actually Need a Striker

A lot has been made of Giroud and his importance to the team. With Lukas Podolski still injured, we have been slightly over-relying on the Frenchman but in a way, if he was injured I believe that we could still cope. If you’ve watched Arsenal lately, the midfield options of Ramsey, Rosicky, Flamini, Wilshere, Cazorla, Arteta and Özil are all intelligent enough and adaptable enough to interchange and almost play in any position.

Remember when Spain lined up without a striker? There is no reason whatsoever why Arsenal couldn’t do the same – our midfield is that good.

A lot has been made about the performances of Mesut Ozil over the last few weeks. Some people have said they he looks lazy, and plays like he can’t be bothered. Then there are some who say that’s just the way he plays football, and others that he is still finding his feet in England.

In terms of an impact, you cannot deny that his arrival alone lifted the confidence of the club ten fold. His signing brought a massive amount of excitement that finally, Arsenal could become real contenders this season. And here we are almost in December, top of the Premier League after 12 games and narrowly top of the toughest Champions League group by far.

Last night on Twitter, I asked the simple question “was signing Ozil a mistake?”. Unsurprisingly, that sparked a host of aggressive responses but after his shockingly bad penalty last night, you would expect him to have his critics.

I won’t pretend to have watched a lot of Germany or Real Madrid over the last few years, so I can only comment on how I think he’s performed for Arsenal. While I do believe he hasn’t been at his best for us yet, I think it’s clear that with Ozil you either love him or hate him.

You either think he’s a misunderstood genius, who has single-handedly driven Arsenal to where they are now, or that he’s a lazy player who is a bit of a luxury. The truth is somewhere in between.

I find it hard for anyone to argue that he has been sensational for us so far. I would say he’s been “good”. Not amazing, not terrible, just good. He’s racked up plenty of important assists, linked up play well and added an extra dimension to our game. But by the same token, he has been guilty of disappearing in matches, and at times been shown to be off the pace. A confident and flying Ozil would have easily trapped Ramsey’s ball over the top last night, as well as scoring that chance against Manchester United. I just think he is still finding his feet both at Arsenal and in the Premier League.

People have said that his fitness was an issue and that’s why he was always substituted under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, and it’s not the first time I’ve heard that some consider him a 60/70 minute player.

There is no doubt that Ozil is a world class player, but it down to him to show he’s a class above all the rest at the club. Players like Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere are the ones showing they’re our best players at the club at this moment in time.

After the Manchester United defeat, it’s clear that peoples views differ greatly on the significance of the result. Some people say that it shows Arsenal’s inability to beat big teams, whereas others look to our record of 14 victories in 15 away games and think this is nothing more than a blip.

Personally, I believe the result itself is not as important as a lot of people are making out. It certainly doesn’t end our title challenge and the fact is we are still 5 points better off than Manchester United, and 2 points clear at the top of the league.

For me, the performance can be put down to a few things. We lost Per Mertesacker and Rosicky to illness, and it seemed a few of the lads were a bit sluggish. We don’t know what the illness was, but it certainly effected the team. We’ve also had a pretty tough run in recently with games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Dormund and when Manchester United had a similar test (having to play Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City) they only managed to get one point from those games. We won two of them, and only narrowly lost against Manchester United.

Apart from the tired performance yesterday, something we’ve been missing (and been coping well without I might add) is pace up front. Lukas Podolski is quick off the mark and has been injured for a long time but it is Theo Walcott we have missed the most. He gives us such a valuable outlet with his runs and with him I am sure we would have given Manchester United a much tougher game. Even in the games against Liverpool and Dortmund, there were times when Theo’s presence on the pitch was sorely missed.

We have done extremely well to play well and win games without him but there is no doubt that he gives us that something extra when we run out of ideas. We have Olivier Giroud up top and Theo is the perfect player to play alongside him to feed off his flicks and passes. Yesterday, and in other games this season, Giroud has looked isolated and that has influenced the amount of chances we’ve created. Against United, we had Ramsey, Cazorla and Ozil behind Giroud which should be a line up good enough to scare most defences in the world, but without that burst of pace we can’t vary our game and give the defenders something else to think about. Playing in front of an oppositions back four is exactly what they want, and playing against pace scares the living daylights out of them.

The sooner Theo Walcott comes back from injury, the sooner we can really kick start our season again and push on.

There’s no doubt that Arsenal were second best yesterday but there are ration reasons why this was the case. We had a tough run in with Chelsea, Liverpool, Dortmund and United and Olivier Giroud has been leading the line pretty much single-handedly. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that he struggles now and then.

Manchester United looked like a team that had done their homework and they basically bullied Giroud out of the game with their physical approach. More often than not, he would come out of 50-50 challenges holding his face as if he’d been hit there. That’s not a slight on the way Manchester United played, they targeted Giroud as a threat and dealt with it well.

The problem is with Podolski injured, Giroud is the only recognised striker. And even then, it could be argued that Podolski is more of a wide player than a typical centre forward. So we have a problem.

It is not unreasonable to think that Giroud could get injured, or at the very least will need a rest. We have been relying on him far too much so what will Arsene Wenger do? Will he fight on with the same squad or dip into the transfer market yet again and bring in a striker?

Because I don’t care how you look at it, Nicklas Bendtner is a joke and can’t even be considered to be a realistic option. I bet the Manchester United fans laughed when Arsene brought him on yesterday.

So the January Transfer window could be an important time in our season. We have a solid and settled back five, our midfield options are plentiful even with injuries to Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby, but up front is where we are light.

So who are our realistic options?

Robert Lewandowski is someone who I’ve wondered about, but last week he came out and told potential clubs not to bother getting in touch as his decision was now made up and he would announce it next summer. It doesn’t take too much guessing to figure out that he will be staying in Germany.

So who else is there? If we focus on the Premier League then we could always rekindle our love affair with Luis Suarez. But there’s more chance of Bendtner playing for Real Madrid next season.

We have Christian Benteke, who has proven to be able to score goals at this level and impose himself on games. Other names that have been bandied around are Benzema, Remy, Llorente, Hernandez and Michu amongst others.

So what should we do? Stick or twist?