Whisper it quietly, but it's beginning to look like Robin Van Persie might just be back to his best. I say whisper, because I suspect that even loud noises are enough to injure the delicate Dutchman. Good thing he plays at the Emirates, right?

This is especially good news, given that after Manchester City's loss to on Saturday, Arsenal are basically Manchester United's only challenger for the coveted premier league title. United lead Arsenal by two points with a game and hand, but lead City by 3 points with 2 games in hand and Chelsea by 10 points (with no games in hand). For the first time in years Arsenal are in the now slightly unfamilar territory of a two horse title race, as well as being the neutral's choice for the league by default, because no one wants to see Man U win another bloody championship, especially when they've been so distinctly average all season.

Arsenal's problem in providing an effective challenge to United this season has been rooted in the wild inconsistencies of the back four, but on Saturday, thankfully, the defence was given a rest by a unbelieveably unambitious Wigan team who seemed to have come to terms with being beaten before the match had even started. Having been accompanied by only a handful of fans (barely an exaggeration, really, there were about 60 of them) and knowing full well that they were up against an overwhelmingly superior footballing force, Wigan seemed happy to camp out in their own half - even after the first goal went in, some of the players will still time-wasting, presumably to stop themselves from being on the end of a thrashing.

Consequently, Arsenal were rather given free reign to attack for about %95 of the game, and it was Van Persie who best utilised this attacking freedom by scoring his first career hat-trick. He could have had more, as could the rest of the team were it not for the first half heroics of Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, who made more than a few top notch saves to keep the score respectable.

The regularity with which Arsenal created chances was a joy to behold, their inability to convert them being the only troublesome aspect of the afternoon. Van Persie's sharpness in front of goal makes everything else pale in comparison though, as the striker is comfortably Arsenal's biggest threat up front when he's fully fit. His first goal was typical of the Dutchman, as he ran onto a through ball from Song and fired a first time shot past the keeper for the opener. The finish was pedestrian however, when compared to his second. A lofted Fabregas pass dropped just outside the six yard box, and Van Persie was on hand to volley into the net without breaking stride.

The hat-trick seemed an inevitability when Fabregas was felled in the box (for which centreback Gary Caldwell earned his marching orders) but the Dutchman, normally clincal from 12 yards, blasted his effort miles over the bar. Having obviously earmarked a spot for the match ball on his mantlepiece, he seemed determined to bag his third, and after first curling an effort onto the post, he was duly rewarded when Theo Walcott latched onto a through ball, holding the ball up until Van Persie was able to take it off his toe and smash the ball past the goalie.

He's going to need to stay sharp too, because after the cup tipes against Ipswich and Huddersfield, Arsenal have to play Everton, Newcastle, Wolves and Barcelona. Having scored six goals in his last three games however, the striker looks like he means business.

Ipswich tomorrow, and Arsenal need to overcome a one goal deficit if they're to win their first silveware in five years. That said, I'm not really sure how worried anyone actually is about the 'five years' thing outside of the media. As far as I can tell, most Arsenal fans are content that their team has remained competitive at the highest level of football despite the financial implications of building a huge stadium. Besides, when did a football fan's enjoyment depend entirely on material success? Can't we just be happy that we can watch our team play awesome football week in, week out in our enormous and highly lucrative new stadium? Frankly I'd prefer to finish second than win the Carling Cup, which is more joke than trophy.

Spurs are looking to move to new digs soon too - let's see if they can hold on to their champions league spot when they're pouring hundreds of millions into a new home. Besides, if they build their stadium anything like they play their football, it'll look plenty flash but lack solid foundations. Ha.