Arsenal have a tough road ahead of them in the next few weeks with matches against Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all coming up.

That's the negative side.

But the positive side for Arsene Wenger's young team is that they will get their hard games out of the way now while they other teams in the top four will still have them coming later in the season.

Arsenal already got one tough match out of the way this week when they played to a scoreless draw against Aston Villa who have showed so much promise this season.

Sunday will be a big test for the Gunners who are at home against the defending league champions. And United will be in a robust mood for their trip down south as they managed to get to the League Cup final this week after beating Manchester City 3-1 in the second leg. They will face Villa at Wembley next month in what promises to be a highly contested match.

Arsenal also have some injuries to overcome this weekend – apparently defender Thomas Vermaelen and striker Eduardo are out of Sunday's reckoning. Under Wenger, Arsenal are one of the most exciting teams in the world to watch – and they are one of the youngest teams but on Sunday don't be surprised to see two old heads defending – Sol Campbell who has returned to the club and also William Gallas. Both are in their 30s but there is nothing wrong with that. I have always said that Arsenal could do with some veterans to join the young kids there.

It has been about five years since Arsenal have won any silverware and the supporters, who do love Wenger, may be getting a little impatient. But Arsenal have the team to win something. But it is not going to be the FA Cup as Stoke knocked them out last weekend. There are only two trophies that Arsenal can win this year and that is the Premier League and Champions League – both tough competitions.

The Gunners are right there challenging for the league with the likes of Chelsea and United. But if Chelsea beat Burnley this weekend, which I think they will, and United manage to come away with all three points at the Emirates, Arsenal will be five points behind Chelsea and four behind United. But the way this season is going I expect the league fight to come down right to the end. It really is one of the closest fought seasons in a while.

***

Watching United and Manchester City battle it out on Wednesday evening in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final I was struck by the lack of marking – especially for Rooney's winning goal in extra time. You could see City keeper Shay Given, who had a great game, shouting to his defenders to keep it tight but Rooney managed to find space for his header – and Rooney is not Peter Crouch!

Tevez was again playing some really good stuff and his goal was sublime. He and Rooney are so similar – they run their hearts out and lead from example. I also thought that Nani is now starting to come into his own. Everyone knows he has bundles of talent but if you are constantly making the wrong decisions then that talent is useless. But in the last couple of matches he is starting to come really good.

Looking at the season now I have to say that Chelsea seem to be the most complete team. Many thought that when the likes of Drogba and Essien left to go to the African Cup of Nations tournament that Chlesea would be hurting. But looking at the matches Chelsea have played over the past month and they haven't missed a beat. No matter who is on the park, they look very together.

Chelsea go to Burnley on Saturday but shouldn't be over confident as Burnley have already beaten Manchester United and taken a point off Arsenal this season.

Also on Saturday my boys West Ham host fellow strugglers Blackburn – that could be a six-pointer and a game we really need to win

* * *

He certainly arrived with great fanfare but it finally didn't work out. Brazil striker Robinho left Manchester City this week to return to his old club Santos on a six-month loan.

When Robinho arrived at City from Real Madrid in 2008 for over $50 million, everything looked great. He was the first player to go to City after billionaire Arabs bought the club.

He started on fire as well scoring a number of good goals but this season he has only scored one goal – last weekend against Scunthorpe in City's FA Cup victory.

Most of the time Robinho has been on the bench and he wants to play in the World Cup this summer. And he is not going to get into Brazil's team sitting on the bench all season.

The times that I have seen him this season, Robinho has not looked particularly energised and this move will be good for the player.