Premier League: Will Arsenal's slip against Southampton be expensive in the long run?

Incidentally, that was also Arsenal's first league loss of the season – and against an opponent who had been in a downward slump of form at that point.

Yet a loss to Manchester United – no matter what state or form they may be in at the given moment – is still understandable.

A draw to Southampton – a side close to the relegation battle than they are to the top of the table – is not and represents vital points dropped for Mikel Arteta's men.

To be fair to the Gunners, they remain on top of the Premier League table – ahead of City by two points. And they responded well to their last major setback.

The loss to United came at the beginning of September. After that, they went on a run of eight straight games with a win that ended away to Southampton.

But Arteta – who was once Pep Guardiola's assistant manager at City – will know the significance of dropping points against a side like Saints.

One of the reasons City are masters at winning the league under Pep is because, more often than not, they will dispatch weaker teams with the nonchalance of a man swatting a fly.

They are often lauded for their performances against the so-called bigger sides, but City's run of league wins down as much to metronomic consistency as it is to sheer brilliance.

It's why Liverpool twice took the title fight against City to the wire – and lost. No other side has even won a league except these two clubs in recent seasons.

Arsenal is the first side in a while to be challenging City aside from Liverpool – and while their challenge was a surprise at the start of the season, it most certainly isn't now.

They have proved they belong in the fight, even if their chances of winning the title will only truly be realized as the season wears on.

But it is also worth noting that titles can be lost on minor slip-ups. Liverpool in the 2013-14 season under Brendan Rodgers is an example.

For vast parts of the season, the runaway leaders came undone first against a second-string and spirited Chelsea.

A 3-3 draw to Crystal Palace a week later ended their hopes even more – even though, at the time, they were still ahead in the table.

It is still too early to tell if this will be Arsenal's 'Crystanbul' moment, as social media users jokingly christened Palace's comeback draw against Liverpool in 2014.

But there is every chance that Arsenal might struggle in the future; Gabriel Jesus is on a bit of a goal drought, and the team looked out of ideas at times against Palace.

Given the team still have a match against City that was postponed and yet to be rescheduled, they need to ensure they find a form quickly.

Otherwise, their potential title bid might go the way of 2014 Liverpool rather than the way of 2020 Liverpool.