Arsenal moved eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after securing their first away win in the north London derby since 2014.

Arsenal’s Premier League title charge is now indisputable. For the first time this season, the Gunners are listed as favourites to win the league with the bookmakers after their 2-0 win at Tottenham confirmed a crucial shift in momentum in the title race this weekend.

Manchester City’s defeat at Manchester United, coupled with Arsenal’s North London derby victory, gave Mikel Arteta’s team an eight-point lead ahead of Pep Guardiola’s side. That advantage has made them title favourites for the first time at any stage of the season since Wenger’s side beat eventual champions Leicester in February 2016.

Although Arsenal, City and fourth-placed United are one game short of the halfway stage of the season — third-placed Newcastle United hit that mark with their 19th fixture at home to Fulham on Sunday — an eight-point lead seems a substantial one in a campaign in which only the Gunners have shown any kind of consistency.

This clash with their traditional rivals looked to mark the start of a testing period for Arteta’s side, who had lost all of their previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With the Spurs game followed by United at the Emirates next Sunday and a home game against City on Feb. 15, Arsenal’s title credentials really will be placed under scrutiny, but they breezed through the first challenge by beating Spurs with a scoreline that flattered the home side.

Arteta has built a team that has flair and tenacity in equal measure, and they don’t appear — yet at least — to be troubled by nerves or the pressure of expectancy. Whether Arsenal’s squad is deep enough to last the course remains to be seen, and plenty of teams have failed to sustain a good first half of the season into the second half. But they’re passing every test they face while others are slipping up. Arsenal deserve to be tagged as title favourites.