Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur both gained three points on Arsenal in the title race over the weekend.

With midweek fixtures there’s an instant opportunity for Arsène Wenger’s men to respond, and Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri is still backing the Gunners to be in the fight until the very end.

“I think Tottenham and Arsenal are the favourites,” the Italian said on Monday, facing the press before the Foxes take on West Bromwich Albion.

“Arsenal have the players who can do everything, they can win every match.”

Winning every game sounds a fantastic idea, and it has to start this week with Swansea City visiting the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. Then Arsenal go to White Hart Lane for a north London derby on Saturday. This really would be a great time to start winning every match.

510146454 leicester citys italian manager claudio gettyimages
Claudio Ranieri is trying to take pressure off his own players and says he still believes Arsenal are in the hunt. (GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

Of course, Ranieri is also protecting his players. He’s praising Arsenal so losing to them doesn’t look so negative, and putting pressure on both north London sides to win the league while taking it away from his own squad. That doesn’t, however, mean his comments lack sincerity.

The problem Arsenal have is that a lot of tough away games remain, but we can only think about those once they are actually upon us. For now the focus can only be on the match against Swansea. After that, Spurs.