Arsenal will head into 2017 in third place in the Premier League after winning 12 of their opening 19 league matches.

The Gunners got back to winning ways on Boxing Day courtesy of a 1-0 success over West Brom at the Emirates, this all after back-to-back defeats away at Everton and Manchester City, both of which were games they took the lead in.

And they kicked off 2017 with a 2-0 success over Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace this afternoon, with a stunning Olivier Giroud strike and an Alex Iwobi header sealing a comfortable victory for Arsene Wenger’s men.

Today’s win means that they overtake North London rivals Tottenham and Manchester City to go third in the table, although they remain nine points behind leaders Chelsea, who themselves beat Stoke 4-2 on New Year’s Eve.

Wenger’s Gunners visit Bournemouth on Tuesday in a bid to close the gap between themselves and the league leaders, yet they will need to improve upon their recent away form, having lost their last two games on the road.

In what was a decent year for the Gunners, which has seen them finish second in the Premier League for the first time since 2005, and top their Champions League group for the first time since 2011, we thought we’d take a look back at their year, and have selected their most improved players of 2016…

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Despite an injury at the rear end of last season, there’s no doubt that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a better player now than he was 12 months ago.

The England international only netted twice for the Gunners last season, but there were signs just prior to his injury against Barcelona in February that he was beginning to hit his best form, and he scored a fine goal away at Bournemouth just a few weeks earlier.

However, Oxlade-Chamberlain has already beaten his best goal-scoring season for Arsenal in this campaign, having netted six times in all competitions for Wenger’s side, two more than his best tally in the 2011/12 season.

Although he is still not playing as regularly as he would like, the 23-year-old has still laid on five assists for the Gunners this season, and is certainly beginning to look like the player that performed so well for both club and country back in 2012 and 2013.

Theo Walcott

Undoubtedly Arsenal’s most improved player this season, Theo Walcott will enter 2017 both in the England reckoning and Arsenal first team.

The 27-year-old is enjoying his best season in front of goal since the 2012/13 campaign, where he netted 21 times for the Gunners, by scoring 11 times in just 20 games for Wenger’s men this time around.

Add in the four he got in the second half of last season, and Walcott has scored more goals in 2016 than in any of the previous three calendar years.

The forward is now an integral part of the Arsenal starting eleven and, if he can remain injury-free like he has done for much of 2016, then 2017 could be an even better year for the 27-year-old.

Alexis Sanchez

It’s difficult to say that Alexis Sanchez has improved this year, given that he was never bad in the first place, but 2016 has certainly seen the Chilean take it up another level.

The 28-year-old netted 17 goals last season for the Gunners, eight of which were in 2016, yet for much of 2015 he would go on goal-scoring streaks and then go quiet for a few games.

However, this year has seen Sanchez be more consistent in his performances, and indeed in front of goal, where he has scored 14 times in just 24 games for the club, and has not gone longer than two games without a Premier League goal.

It’s also his more advanced playing position which has seen Sanchez improve both his own game and the team’s game, and Arsenal look a much better side when he is leading the line.

It’s been a great year for Sanchez, and there’s little doubt that he is showing to be a better player now than this time last year.