Arsenal Strengthen Lead; City Six Points Adrift

Arsenal strengthened their Premier League title bid by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 through Eberechi Eze, extending their unbeaten run to seven games and shortening betting odds to around 1/3. Manchester City were held 1-0 by Aston Villa — Matty Cash scored — leaving City six points adrift of the leaders. Pep Guardiola said it is too early to panic, praised his squad's progress, warned pundits against writing teams off and pointed to City's history of late comebacks. Liverpool have slipped domestically but produced a Champions League response, and Guardiola expects them to remain challengers. In short, Arsenal are current favourites but City, Liverpool and others remain very much in contention as the title race unfolds.