The aura of invincibility Arsenal once exuded has been damaged to such an extent that the clubs with aspirations to break into the Premier League's top four, currently led by Aston Villa, have identified Arsène Wenger's side as the most vulnerable of them. And the Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell picked up the theme after his side's 2-0 victory at the Emirates.
"You look at the top four and you come to Arsenal thinking you can pick up points," said the Arsenal youth-team graduate who excelled on his latest return to north London. "You look at the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United and they don't drop many points because they are more consistent than Liverpool and Arsenal. Saying that, Liverpool have been far more consistent."
Arsenal have already dropped eight points at home this term in an arena where they were unbeaten last season and Sidwell continued: "I believe you play Arsenal home and away and think you can get a result. It's not necessarily that you can bully them. I don't think they take their chances as well as Manchester United or Chelsea. Those two are more clinical about putting their chances away. You can get points at Arsenal. And, to be honest, they didn't really have that many chances against us [on Saturday]."
Villa drew at home to Liverpool earlier in the season but were soundly beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a game which appeared to indicate they were still some way short of having the quality to break into the top four. They play Manchester United at Villa Park on Saturday buoyed by their first win at Arsenal for 15 years.
They left a side defeated and exasperated at the Emirates. The scene in the home dressing room after Saturday's 2-0 defeat was one of similar deflation to that after Tottenham Hotspur scored twice in the closing stages to salvage an unlikely 4-4 draw at Arsenal last month. The Arsenal players chose to keep their own counsel post-match - they will be without the suspended Cesc Fábregas at Manchester City this weekend - with the manager numbed by this latest unexpected setback.
"Mr Wenger is not going to be happy, especially after losing at home," said Sidwell. "You want to win all your home games and get as much as you can on the road. He's the type of manager who can turn things round and still win silverware but the league is so tight this year that it's about being consistent.
"When I was at Chelsea, the thing I learned is that you need to be consistent to stay at the top. Chelsea always looked at United because they know they never really dropped points, whereas the other teams near the top of the league did."
