Data analysts Opta still give Arsenal an 81.7% chance of winning the title, based on 10,000 simulations of each team’s remaining fixtures.

Pundits, though, are less certain that Arsenal will end their 22-year wait for a league title this season, with several wondering whether Arteta and his players will hold their nerve.

“There are still some questions about the mental strength of the team,” says Arsenal‘s former title-winning captain Patrick Vieira. “When I say now or never [to win the league], it is because other teams are not doing well.

“It will be sad to see them losing that momentum, so that is why it is important to stick together and create this togetherness to keep performing.”

Five-time Premier League winner Peter Schmeichel told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I think the inexperience of everyone at Arsenal of not winning the Premier League and having finished second for three years and being close – that is now coming back to them.

“It is not the pressure from the outside, it is more internally. That is something they have to learn [to cope with], and they have to learn it quickly.”

However, Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer still believes Arsenal will win the title because of their squad strength, and added: “I don’t think it’s a time to panic. You’re going to get dodgy results at some stage of the season. You’ve got to stay calm.”

Arteta recognises that fact and told the BBC after the Manchester United defeat: “The margins are extremely small and we made them even smaller. Now we have to react and see what we are made of.”

The answer to that may well become clearer when they face Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon (15:00 GMT).