'The only team that can stop Arsenal...' - Jamie Carragher sends title warning to Gunners after thumping north London derby win

An Eberechi Eze hat-trick inspired Arsenal to a resounding victory at Emirates Stadium on Sunday over their bitter rivals. The result took them six points clear of second-placed Chelsea and seven ahead of Manchester City, following their shock loss to Newcastle United. It was not just that Mikel Arteta's side claimed all three points it was the manner of their victory that will make the rest of the division sit up and take notice. They have the best defence in the league and the joint-best attack with City. If they keep this up, they may finally end their league title hoodoo.

Liverpool legend Carragher believes that the side most likely to stop Arsenal from winning the league this season is themselves. In previous years, they seemed primed to end their barren run, only to fall short at the last. But with Liverpool languishing down in mid-table and City being a bit inconsistent, Arsenal are the big favourites for this race. 

He said on Sky Sports: "The only team that can stop Arsenal winning the league is Arsenal; they are the best team. They are the best squad. The only thing that can stop them is their own heads, their own mentality. Maybe this crowd getting nervous in March and April, if the league is still up for grabs by then. This would be the one. If they didn't win it, I think we'd all point the finger at them and say, 'You threw this away’. I don't think that's ever been the case before. I always think the case has been that there has been a team slightly better than them in the Premier League, but that is definitely not the case this season."

Arsenal icon Thierry Henry believes his old team needs to "embrace" their status as favourites for the title. He also wants the Gunners to put together displays that make other teams "scared of us".

The Frenchman added: "At some point, you have to embrace it. People are talking about the process. It's not believing in the process anymore. It's happening. We put ourselves in the situation where we believe we have the best squad. So you need to make sure that you can win the league. I'm not saying they are going to win it but you need to act like you are the favourite. Embrace it. It's not me trying to put pressure. If I were coming back in the summer, I would have said, 'It's time to stop messing around'. We now need a performance this year where people are scared of us."

Arteta was delighted with his team's victory, and, in particular, how they dismissed Tottenham with ease. Ahead of a crunch Champions League encounter with Bayern Munich in midweek, followed by a trip to Chelsea next weekend, the Spaniard says they cannot rest on their laurels.

He told BBC's Match of the Day: "It's a very special day for us. We knew the importance of the match and what it means to our fans. To be able to give them that joy, it's a beautiful day. We dominated every part of the game. We created massive chances and had a lot of actions that we were very close to scoring. We stayed patient. Whoever we put in there they do the jobs for us. This squad has the belief and quality to deliver consistently. We have really good momentum but you can see how difficult every game in the Premier League is. It's a long run, let's go game by game. Let's enjoy tonight, then we have Bayern here and Chelsea away. We have a tough week."