Story byDeclan Rice's double helped Arsenal open up a six-point Premier League lead (JUSTIN TALLIS)Kieran CANNINGSun, January 4, 2026 at 8:54 PM UTC·3 min readArsenal tightened their grip on the Premier League title race as Manchester City fluffed their lines to draw 1-1 with managerless Chelsea. Declan Rice struck twice in the Gunners 3-2 win at Bournemouth to open up a six-point lead at the top of the table. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt the other end of the table West Ham's chance of survival suffered a body blow in a 3-0 defeat to a Wolves side that had not won in their opening 19 games of the season. AFP Sports looks at three talking points from the weekend action:World class Rice moves Arsenal closerRice had been a major injury doubt for Saturday's trip to England's south coast after missing Arsenal's midweek demolition of Aston Villa with knee swelling. The England international recovered just in time to take his place in the starting line-up and made his mark by scoring twice in a Premier League game for the first time. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMikel Arteta hailed the 26-year-old as one of the world's best midfielders for his array of attributes."He's constantly adding things to his role in the team," said the Spaniard."I don't see where he can stop because he can still improve in a lot of areas and he wants to improve. He's such a pivotal player for us."After finishing second for the last three seasons, Arteta's men are closing in on finally ending a 22-year wait to win the title. City charge runs out of gasCity had won eight games in a row prior to drawing a blank in a 0-0 draw at Sunderland on January 1. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut their hunt of Arsenal has come off the rails in four damaging days for Pep Guardiola's men in more ways than one. On top of four dropped points, centre-backs Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias limped off in the second half against Chelsea to leave Guardiola with threadbare options at the back."Of course I have concerns. Have you seen the bench today?
