LIKE the footballing Schrödinger’s Cat, Arsenal’s chances of winning the title are at any given time simultaneously alive and dead. Some would say this season they have as good a chance as anyone to win it, while others might argue that the consistency of their recent failures means they have never really been in it at all.

Whether or not they are capable of finishing top in May has been a recurring question in recent seasons. For a decade now the club’s attempts to answer it positively have ended in disappointment; sometimes collapsing spectacularly in the spring, on other occasions being dead in the water long before the Christmas lights have even gone up.

The sense of inevitability with which it has always happened, having been preceded by only the most fragile hope, is why many are keen to write them off so early again. But there are some compelling reasons why this might just be the year to buck the trend.

This is undoubtedly the strongest Arsenal squad since the 2004 Invincibles. There are world-class players throughout, with Petr Cech repeatedly proving his worth in goal and Laurent Koscielny establishing himself as one of the country’s finest centre backs, displaying strength in two of Arsenal’s traditional weak spots.

In attacking areas they are even stronger, and on current form Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil are very possibly the two best players in the Premier League. The German, in particular, has had a lot to prove, but this season tops the charts for assists, thriving with the pace of Theo Walcott ahead of him. One Arsenal staffer boasted last weekend that the cross from which Olivier Giroud scored against Everton gave Özil the best games-per-assist figures of any player in Premier League history, which is pretty good for someone who just 18 months ago was accused of ‘nicking a living’ in the press.

Manager Arsène Wenger seems to be doing a good job of righting the traditional criticisms of his team. It is easily said that they do not ‘do it’ in the big games, but in 2015 they have faced Manchester City away, Manchester United home and away, Chelsea away and at Wembley, Liverpool twice at home and Bayern Munich at home. Those eight games have delivered one defeat, one draw and six wins — a respectable return by anyone’s standards.

Finally there is the issue of defensive cover. The idea of a defensive midfielder became so fabled at Arsenal that many fans almost began to see the purchase of one as the all-powerful panacea which would return them to the very top. When Francis Coquelin was brought back into the team from loan last winter, therefore, it was somewhat underwhelming, but he has steadily established himself as one of the most efficient in the role. Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic is the benchmark for that position, and Coquelin’s performance statistics put him at least on a par with the Serbian.

But the doubts will remain. Until the moment that trophy is again held aloft at the Emirates Stadium, people will always expect them to crumble. No matter how good they look, people will suspect they are just building up to a spectacular implosion, simply because that’s how it has always seemed to go in the last ten years.

More than that, though, there is the rival who simply looks better equipped. Manchester City have a squad assembled at greater expense and with more depth. They also have the best specialist striker in the country — possibly the whole of Europe — in Sergio Aguero and in David Silva the only ‘number 10’ in the league who can claim to be better than Özil. And aside from a blip of a few weeks, they have been winning almost every match by huge margins.

Arsenal are also beginning to strain under their annual injury crisis. The League

Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in midweek will not concern anyone in terms of the result, but the loss of Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to injury was the worst possible outcome. Add them to Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Tomas Rosicky, and Mikel Arteta, and you have a hugely depleted midfield.

They are going into a run of games from which they might expect to string together some wins, leading to them facing City in December in a very strong position. But with their squad pushed to its limits, that becomes a significantly harder task, and if they do drop points they will be looking back on the coming weeks as a missed opportunity come May.

Arsenal are getting more consistent and in recent weeks they have played some truly wonderful football, and yet City remain the favourites. But do not write them off. It will require a big breakthrough to end the cycle of inflated hopes and painful disappointment, but if everything falls their way, there is no doubt Arsenal are capable.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hugo Saye is an English journalist who spent nine months in Jamaica shadowing 2012-2013 National Premier League champions Harbour View FC, where he spoke openly with stars of both sport and politics and discovered the importance of football in the Caribbean island, which formed the background of his book, Of Garrisons and Goalscorers.