Alan Hansen's column

By Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

Arsenal are in a powerful position but only a fool would write off Man Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson

Arsenal hold a five-point lead at the Premier League summit after rivals Manchester United and Chelsea dropped points at the weekend - it is an advantage that is crucial but not unassailable.

Arsene Wenger will regard it as a big lead at this stage of the season, but the pressure really starts now with something riding on every game and he was wisely refusing to get carried away after the 2-0 win against Blackburn.

Wenger will calm expectations and excitement surrounding the prospect of another championship, but he has got his side exactly where he wants them to be.

You have to ask will they lose two more games - although they have to travel to Manchester United and Chelsea - and will their rivals keep winning to overtake them?

It is all about pressure, how you handle it and how you react to setbacks. Arsenal's relatively new team has not been over the course and distance, unlike Manchester United, so there may be twists and turns ahead.

I would be very surprised if Chelsea emerged to win the league and you never write off Sir Alex Ferguson and his team, but there is no doubt Arsenal are in pole position.

United have dropped five points in their last two league games, which will come as a great disappointment to Ferguson.

Spurs away is always going to be hard. The time to play them was in August or September, not now when they are rejuvenated under Juande Ramos.

606: DEBATE Are Arsenal saving English football? cheese85

The home defeat by Manchester City is the one that will really hurt, given the context of the game and the fact it was against their fiercest rivals.

Many people have said off-the-field events should not affect players, but I have sympathy with the view that the events of the build-up and the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster may have played a part.

I know from the experience of Liverpool and Hillsborough that it is very hard to go out and start playing after such a traumatic event.

The two circumstances were different, but United's players will have watched very moving footage, listened to Sir Bobby Charlton talking about the death of Duncan Edwards and his great friends, and it would have been a very emotional week for them.

They will now be looking to bounce back and one thing is certain, there will still be a belief from Sir Alex and his players that they can win the league.

Arsenal have surprised a lot of people who thought they might be the club to drop out of the established top four at the start of the season. Instead they now head the pack.

They seem to have a real team ethic and ethos. They have a great defender in William Gallas and fine players throughout the team, but the key figure has been striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

He scores goals and gives them a variety to their approach that was not available to them when Thierry Henry was at Arsenal.

Adebayor gives them an outlet with his height and power in the air. Henry never carried that threat and sometimes it was a case of "pass, pass, pass" by Arsenal - if that did not work they were struggling.

Newcastle break golden rules of defending left right and centre but they won't go down

Wenger has proved his brilliance by fashioning another team after Henry's departure, and now they are favourites to clinch the title.

At the other end of the table, Newcastle's players and new manager Kevin Keegan are suddenly having to deal with questions about relegation.

I do not believe they will go down, but they have massive problems in defence - as they have had for 10 years.

Some of their defending is beyond belief, breaking golden rules left, right and centre.

Take the defeat at Aston Villa. Anyone will tell you that if you are dealing with a giant like John Carew, you keep him away from the penalty area. Not Newcastle. They almost invited him in at Villa Park and got destroyed after the break.

The opposite is true when playing against pace. You don't defend high up the pitch - well not unless you are Newcastle, that is.

In Keegan's defence, he has only just walked through the door and he will be aware of the problems, and I expect Newcastle to survive.

The other big talking point in football is the Premier League's idea of playing an "international round" of matches abroad.

The product and brand are both fantastic, but the first question you ask is how is it going to work?

Is it workable? Is it fair? In both instances I have to say I don't think it is.

What happens at the end of the season if it goes down to the wire and Manchester United are drawn to play Spurs in Sydney and Arsenal are paired with Derby in New York?

Can you picture Sir Alex Ferguson's face? I think I can and he would have every right to feel aggrieved.

And what about if you are relegated having been drawn to face United, Chelsea or Arsenal three times? That's not fair, which is what happens when you bring an element of seeding or a draw to a league format.

I think this is why there has been such widespread opposition and it is certainly not something I can see happening in the next couple of seasons.

• Alan Hansen was talking to Phil McNulty