An Arsenal rival may have just accepted defeat in the Premier League race

Winning the Premier League title is a lot harder than people realise, and Arsenal are seeing it first-hand.

In fact, they have been seeing it first-hand for the last few years, as they have recorded so many points - even more than Manchester City - in these last three years, and yet, they have no titles to show for it.

This year, though, things are different. Arsenal are seven points clear at the top of the table, their rivals have slowed down just a tad, and are not as good as they used to be. Their squad is much, much better than the last time the Gunners were involved in a close, neck-and-neck title race, and things are looking good for Mikel Arteta and his men.

An Arsenal rival may have just accepted defeat in the Premier League race

Actually, one of their title rivals, who saw his side lose last weekend, may have just conceded the Premier League title.

He did not explicitly say that he thinks Arsenal will win the league title, but judging by the fact that Arsenal are seven points clear at the moment, Unai Emery taking himself and his team out of the race shows that they are indirectly conceding the title to the current leaders, who are Arsenal.

Obviously, he never says Arsenal are guaranteed to win - and they are not - but this takes some pressure off of his Aston Villa players, and adds relief to the Arsenal players who are seemingly challenged by just Manchester City, at least at the moment.

After a shocking 1-0 loss at home to Everton, Emery said: "We are still not contenders - to be in the top five. We are [there] now, but we are still not contenders. Because there are other teams with more potential than us."

There is a legitimate argument to be made that Aston Villa are more than likely to finish their season in the top five of the Premier League. They might even finish top three if they continue to be playing at the level they are playing right now.

But, obviously, calling his own side contenders would mean that Emery is putting too much pressure on a team that, according to the start they had to the season, is clearly overachieving. And he keeps reiterating that Villa are not contenders to win the league.

They are still contenders statistically - as they are only seven points behind Arsenal, but losses like the one against Everton certainly will not help the case of Emery's side, but certainly would for his former team.