Aloha! Welcome to "At Gun Point" - a secluded corner in the vast expanses of espnstar.com where we look at all things Arsenal.

By Abhishek Mehrotra

Gunners fans - you know Arsenal is the best team in the world. Anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously misled and it is our job to show them the light by dispelling the dark forces of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. Particularly Tottenham.

That is exactly what this weekly analysis of all things Arsenal aims to do.

United, Blues and Reds supporters - we know you're not bad people. You're just not as good as we are.

The jury is still out on the morality of being a Spurs fan but with the right mix of coaxing and shock therapy, you guys will definitely become devotees of Arsene Wenger as well.

With this happy preamble, let's get straight into it.

This season, after many summers of discontent, Arsenal have entered the home stretch firmly in the race for the Premier League trophy.

Having hung onto the coat-tails of Chelsea and United despite being buffetted by injuries, controversies and some dispiriting results, the Gunners are now favourites for domestic glory.

Disregard the pundits who still consider Arsenal to be dark horses. We are now as shiny as they come and here's why.

The run-in is extremely kind to us. Of the eight games left in the seaons, six are against teams placed 10th or below in the table.

With all due respect to the likes of West Ham, Wigan, Wolves and others - if Arsenal are anywhere close to their best - each of these will land us three points.

Tottenham and Manchester City are the two banana skins that the Gunners need to steer clear of. It is unimaginably painful to say this but Spurs have played good football this season and have not lost at home since December. The match at White Hart Lane will be a crucial one.

City have blown hot and cold - their 4-2 success at Stamford Bridge followed by the 1-1 draw at Sunderland most recently. Their dependence on Tevez is a weakness and if the Argentinian can be kept quiet, Arsenal will win.

United have to play Chelsea (a massive, massive game that) and Liverpool, in addition to the two teams mentioned above. Chlesea face a similarly tough schedule except that they play Aston Villa and not Manchester City.

Points will be dropped by both. It is up to the Arsenal to take advantage. And there is a sense that they will. The Aaron Ramsey incident has given the team an Us vs Them mentality that has been all too apparent in the games since then.

Unlike the Eduardo injury against Birmingham two years ago after which the team simply went to pieces, this group has closed ranks - put its head down and ground out results.

Some of this has to do with the captaincy. Gallas wore the armband two years ago and his petulant behaviour after conceding a last minute penalty against Birmingham was embarrasing, mortifying and ultimately fatal to the team's title hopes.

Fabregas, despite being a decade younger, kept his head after the Ramsey incident and indeed stepped up to take the penalty which sealed the three points against Stoke.

It is plain to see he is a vital part of the team not just on the pitch but off it as well. And he wants that trophy. Badly.

He is out through injury right now and his inspiration on the field will be missed. From a purely footballing perspective though, Samir Nasri has slotted in quite superbly in central midfield - and his performances against Porto in the Champions League and Hull after that suggested that Arsenal have found a capable stand-in for Fabregas.

The Frenchman's rise along with the coming of age of Abou Diaby, Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue has turned this team from pretenders to contenders to firm favourites.

Hopefully, by the time we're back next week - West Ham will have been thrashed 9-0 at the Emirates, Liverpool would have beaten Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford with Vidic sent off for pulling Fernando Torres down by the hair and Blackburn would have kicked Chelsea out of Ewood Park. Ah - a man can be allowed to dream can't he?

 Till next week then, fellow Arsers!