Arsenal among Europe's best title challengers - but former star may get unwanted 'title'

The Gunners took their lead at the summit of the table to eight points on Sunday after a 4-1 thrashing of manager-less Crystal Palace, though second-placed Manchester City have a game in hand.

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Nevertheless, with ten games to go, many are starting to believe Arsenal will not relinquish control of the title race now and go on to win the Premier League.

Doing so would be their first league trophy in 19 years and represent a massive achievement for manager Mikel Arteta, whose side finished fifth last season.

Arsenal were nowhere near anyone's pick to win the title this year while City and Liverpool have dominated in recent campaigns.

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And their eight-point lead even compares across Europe as the top divisions enter the business end of the season.

The Premier League is among the five best divisions on the continent, alongside Spain's LaLiga, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1.

But how do Arsenal measure up to each country's title challengers?

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The Gunners are eight points ahead of City and 19 ahead of Manchester United, effectively ruling them out of the title race, with ten games to go.

In 28 games, Arteta's side have won 22 of them, drawn three and lost three, and after crashing out of the Europa League, crucially giving them more time between fixtures than City, who also have the Champions League and FA Cup to contend for.

With the two sides set to meet on April 26, that could end up being a potential title decider if City remain in the race.

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As for life in Spain, Barcelona are coasting to the La Liga title, which would be their first in four years.

While financial troubles have hit the club hard, as well as allegations of bribery, manager Xavi has brought the good times back to the Nou Camp where previous bosses Ronald Koeman and Quique Setien could not.

After beating Real Madrid in a pivotal El Clasico on Sunday, Los Cules are leading their rivals by 12 points at the top of the table with 12 games to go.

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Losing a grip on the title would be an astonishing decline considering their defensive prowess this campaign, perhaps their most surprising improvement this season having conceded just nine times in the league.

Like Arsenal, Barcelona are not contending in Europe having been knocked out of the Europa League by United while Real Madrid are still in the Champions League where they will face Chelsea.

The Catalan giants have lost just twice in the league this season and boast a better goal difference than Real Madrid as well as leading third-placed Atletico Madrid by 17 points.

In Italy, Napoli have dominated through the brilliant duo Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who have 33 Serie A goals between them.

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It has taken them to the top of the table by a whopping 19 points with the Scudetto all but wrapped up as rivals AC Milan, Inter and Juventus flounder.

The usual 'big three' in Italy have suffered declines this season with Lazio the closest side to Napoli this year, sitting on 52 points from 27 games with the league leaders on 71.

With such a huge edge over the rest of the competition, it is surely only a matter of time before Napoli lift the trophy - which would be their first since 1990 when Diego Maradona led them to glory.

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France and Germany, however, see their top clubs in a spot of trouble - particularly the latter.

Bayern Munich's defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend saw Borussia Dortmund leapfrog them into top spot and sit ahead by a point.

The two sides meet when the international break is over in two weeks time in Der Klassiker, perhaps one of the biggest in Dortmund's recent history with a chance to make a stamp on the title race.

A win would see them go four points clear of Bayern with 10 games to go, so there would be plenty of work left to do before going on to lift the title.

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But doing so would hand them their first Bundesliga title in 11 years, which was also the last time Bayern did not win the league in one of Europe's least-contended divisions. This is not what Serge Gnabry thought he was leaving north London for!

And Paris Saint-Germain are finding their grip on Ligue 1 shaking somewhat after a shock 2-0 defeat to Rennes at home on Saturday.

They still have a healthy seven-point lead over second-placed Marseille, whose own antics on and off the pitch mean consistency is a foreign concept.

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But the ongoing soap opera at the Parc des Princes means they are always on the brink of a crisis with their early exit from the Champions League sowing seeds of discontent rather than unifying the squad.

It would still be a huge shock for PSG to give up the Ligue 1 race but, ultimately, the league is hardly a priority for the Qatari owners at the club.

With Bayern Munich swatting them aside in Europe, the French giants effectively saw their season end early.

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As a result, it sees Arsenal slap-bang in the middle of the title-challengers table, behind Napoli and Barcelona but edging PSG and Dortmund, on points ahead of the competition.

Whether the Gunners go on to win the Premier League remains to be seen but Arteta can still point towards an incredible mark in progression no matter the result.

History would suggest that the title is in the bag but with the likes of City, Chelsea and Liverpool to play in the coming weeks, Arsenal cannot afford to take their eye off the ball.