Arsenal's campaign gets boost from super pack of healthy Gunners (and Chris Christie)

New Jersey governor Chris Christie was on hand as an anonymous spectator in the crowd at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday as Arsenal followed up last week’s impressive win at Manchester City by raining five unanswered goals past Aston Villa. The 2016 presidential hopeful and frequent London visitor was witness to the Gunners’ third straight win in the Premier League and fifth straight in all competitions.

Christie, who is in the UK to boost his foreign policy credentials, hopped on the bandwagon of a winning football team last fall when he watched the Dallas Cowboys make their NFL playoff run from the luxury suite of team owner Jerry Jones.

But perhaps even more notable than who was in attendance on Sunday was who wasn’t in an Arsenal shirt. Alexis Sanchez, the man who’s so often carried the team this season, wasn't even in the squad for what turned out to be the Gunners' biggest Premier League winning margin in more than two years.

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With the Chilean sidelined by a hamstring problem, Arsenal’s goals against Villa came from five different players with Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin all finding the back of the net. At last, Arsenal fans are getting a glimpse of what this side looks like at nearly full strength. Players like Walcott and Ozil have returned from injury to make an immediate impact on an already well-balanced squad. And with the season just past its halfway mark, the Gunners are finally playing with the kind of confidence that was expected of them after last May’s FA Cup triumph.

Just a few weeks ago, fans were calling for Arsene Wenger’s head. But that’s how it goes at Arsenal and, to his credit, the Frenchman has at times shown a new willingness to put his "Total Football" ethos aside this season. Against City and Villa, Wenger made pragmatic substitutions to help manage out leads the Gunners of two or three seasons ago would have squandered.

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The question now is whether it is too little too late to contend for the Premier League crown. That title is certainly a bridge too far, but with Arsenal currently sitting in fifth place – behind Chelsea, Man City, a resurgent Manchester United and a Southampton side that refuses go away – there’s still plenty to play for.

The Gunners face stiff competition for a top-four spot with the teams above them and their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, hot on their heels. Arsenal may be perennial favorites to finish in the top four, but the race for this season’s Champions League spots could go down to the wire. Wenger needs to keep playing it smart and hope his injury crisis is well and truly behind him.

And what of the Champions League? For once the Gunners have avoided running straight into Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Set to face Monaco in the next round, Arsenal has its best chance in years to progress in Europe’s premier club competition. Are they contenders? Probably not. Although when this team has all its pieces, it has shown that it is capable of beating just about anyone.

The thing is, Arsenal fans have been here before. They have watched their team struggle, only to see it catch fire in time for a run to fourth. Are things really different this time? Well, Wenger did finally sign a center back in Gabriel Paulista, so that’s one long-neglected problem hopefully solved. And admittedly, Arsenal looks less likely to give up a 3-0 lead than a couple seasons ago.

But are the Gunners, as Wenger claims, capable of winning the Premier League by 2017? With this current squad, in its current form, you couldn't rule it entirely out of the question.

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