Second-placed Manchester City cannot catch up before 2025 rings in, as their next match is not played until New Year's Day.
And even if Aston Villa has the opportunity to reach Arsenal's 42 points – they need to win both tonight against Chelsea and against Arsenal on Tuesday – it won't be enough. The London team's goal difference is superior.
Ødegaard's first
Martin Ødegaard opened the scoring at home to Brighton on Saturday. The Norwegian smashed home a 1-0 lead for Arsenal from distance in the 14th minute, his first league goal of the season.
Arsenal, with Viktor Gyökeres starting, dominated the game. It was a one-goal game for long periods, and when Brighton's Georginio Rutter unfortunately headed in an own goal to make it 2–0 in the 52nd minute, it looked all but over.
But the guests sprang into action, and Diego Gomez reduced the deficit to 1–2 after capitalizing on the rebound from Swedish national team midfielder Yasin Ayari's fine shot.
It was a nervous finish at the Emirates Stadium – David Raya was forced to make a masterful save with fifteen minutes left – but Arsenal held on.
Cherki match hero for City
A couple of hours earlier, Manchester City had put pressure on the league leader with their 2-1 away win against Nottingham.
Rayan Cherki was City's hero. The Frenchman first played Tijani Reijnders through to make it 1-0 in the 48th minute and then scored with his weaker right foot, with ten minutes left to play.
A corner was headed to Josko Gvardiol at the far post and the Croatian headed it down to Cherki. With a distinctive finish, he pushed it past Nottingham goalkeeper John Victor to make it 2-1.
