Aston Villa vs. Arsenal: Key Takeaways from Arsene Wenger's Pre-Match Presser

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes the Premier League could be won with a record low number of points, and hailed Olivier Giroud after he scored a midweek hat-trick against Olympiakos to help the Gunners progress in the Champions League when he addressed the media ahead of Sunday's trip to Aston Villa.

Per James Olley of the London Evening Standard, he said:

According to Ben Burrows of the Mirror, he added: "Six to eight teams can compete for the Premier League."

Indeed, the Frenchman's assertion may well be correct. The likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City have all been somewhat unreliable this season and have dropped points with alarming regularity.

The Gunners have suffered shock defeats such as their 2-1 reverse to West Bromwich Albion, while City have lost 4-1 to Liverpool and 2-0 to Stoke City in their last three league outings.

United have only lost twice, but owing to their failings up front have been held to five draws already this season.

The result of all this means of the three sides most likely to contest the title race at the business end of the season, Arsenal have only picked up 30 points of a possible 45 and the Manchester clubs 29 apiece—hardly the form that would usually result in a title.

Unless one of them can improve and show greater consistency, Wenger's belief will likely come true.

Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press

The boss also took the time to praise Giroud following his impressive exploits in Greece. Per Burrows, he said: "Wednesday was one of his best performances." He added, per the club's official Twitter feed and reporter Simon Collings:

Indeed, his hat-trick now takes his tally to 13 in all competitions for the season—a very healthy return at this stage and one that defies his critics among the Arsenal faithful.

While he has on occasion shown he does still miss chances, such as in the 1-1 draw in November's north London derby, the striker is currently Arsenal's most reliable goalscorer and a thoroughly useful player to have in the squad.

Per Burrows, Wenger also gave the latest on the Gunners' injury situation following the win over Olympiakos, explaining: "We had no injuries after the game. [Mikel] Arteta and [Alexis] Sanchez will not be available, the rest back after Christmas."

The same goes for Jack Wilshere, per the club's Twitter:

Because of their injuries, he explained the club would be evaluating their options in January. Per Burrows, he said: "We will see what is there. We have a whole December to go first."

Lastly the 66-year-old reaffirmed his desire for success at the club and, perhaps unlike certain other Premier League managers, claimed he is not controlled by his own ego: "I do not run after my own ego, I just want to do well. I‘m happy to do well for everyone at Arsenal."

The Gunners are currently second in the league, behind Leicester City, and with the likes of United and City proving inconsistent, and Chelsea floundering in the bottom half, this season represents their best chance in years at winning the title.

To do so, they'll either need a dramatic turnaround in fortune when it comes to injuries, or more likely recruit further depth in January. While finding a player who can significantly improve the first team may be difficult, at the very least they should be able to find some talent to improve their options on the bench.