LONDON (AP) — Arsene Wenger's pessimism about Arsenal's title hopes may have been too hasty following last weekend's loss to Manchester United.
With Chelsea being held at Hull on Tuesday, the Gunners can now close the gap on the leaders to three points by repeating last season's victory at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Arsenal has spent the season on the back foot, with Wenger's side clawing back an 11-point deficit on Chelsea since collapsing 3-0 to the west London club in November.
But Sunday's 3-1 loss to Manchester United provoked an angry reaction from Wenger, who branded the team "naive" and requiring "something special" to challenge for the title. The Arsenal squad is more optimistic, however.
"We are on schedule to do good things this season. We have only a little step to get back to the top of the league," goalkeeper Manuel Almunia said. "When you think about where we were after the Chelsea game, that is a great achievement.
"Sometimes it is better to come back from third or fourth to challenge than to be at the top all the time."
While Chelsea has enjoyed being top for much of the campaign, the 1-1 draw at Hull left it just two points clear of United.
Midfielder Michael Essien believes that February will be crucial for the prospects of Chelsea's treble challenge.
"It's a month that will define our season because it's the knockout stages of the Champions League and the destination of the Premier League can be shaped," said Essien, who also called on Blues fans to get behind the team. "There are more FA Cup games to come as well, so we will need your support home and away and I am sure we can count on you."
Chelsea could go into the Arsenal match toppled from the summit by United if the champions beat bottom-place Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.
The tussle for the Champions League places will be in the spotlight Saturday with fourth-place Tottenham hosting Aston Villa, which is two points behind in seventh.
Liverpool and Manchester City, which are both just a point behind Spurs, will be hoping Spurs slip up. City is at relegation-threatened Hull, while Liverpool hosts Everton in the Merseyside derby, with the Reds unbeaten in the league since Dec. 19 following a steady recovery.
"We are close to the top four, which is where we want to be, and the only thing we can promise is we will fight for that to make it happen so we are in the Champions League next season," Liverpool winger Albert Riera said. "We are winning games now. We are more confident and we believe we can be in the top four come the end of the season.
"We are doing better defensively now and not conceding silly goals. At the start of the season when we were giving free kicks away just outside the box, we were not confident. We have worked a lot on that in training and we have improved."
At the bottom of the standings, there is a tight fight against relegation. West Ham, Bolton and Wolverhampton are only out of the drop zone on goal difference at the expense of Hull, which is also on 21 points.
West Ham goes to next-from-bottom Burnley on Saturday when Bolton hosts Fulham, while Wolves is at eighth-place Birmingham in Sunday's lunchtime kickoff.
"The coming weeks are going to be interesting because we've got some games against teams fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league and desperate for points," Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said. "There are some real battles ahead and we've got to be prepared for those."
On Saturday, Wigan is at Sunderland. The Latics are on 22 points, two behind Sunderland.
