Arsenal are sitting in the all-too-familiar position of fourth in the Premier League with just 13 games of the season remaining.

Arsene Wenger’s side entered 2017 with a genuine chance of lifting the title come May, but two defeats from their seven matches, one of which was a 3-1 loss at league leaders Chelsea earlier this month, has all but ended their hopes for another season.

The Gunners are ten points behind Antonio Conte’s Blues, so they are only really fighting for a top four finish this term, which if they achieve it would be the 21st successive time they have done so, all of which have come under manager Wenger.

However, they look set to exit the Champions League after losing 5-1 to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last 16 tie last week, and Wenger won’t be winning his first League Cup title this season after they were knocked out by finalists Southampton in the quarter-finals earlier in the season.

Nonetheless, the Gunners are still in the FA Cup after beating non-league Sutton United 2-0 at Gander Green Lane on Monday, and with no game until the second leg against Bayern next Tuesday, we thought it’d be a good idea to look back on Arsenal’s campaign thus far.

So, with that in mind, here is What’s Hot and What’s Not from Arsenal’s 2016/17 season so far…

HOT – Form of Sanchez

There have been some sensational performers in the Premier League this term, and one of them is certainly Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean international is the league’s top-scorer with 17 goals so far, while his three others in the Champions League means that he has already reached 20 for the season, and is just five behind his best tally since moving to Arsenal back in 2014, when he netted 25 in his first campaign in North London.

With eight league assists and three others in Europe, Sanchez has been the orchestrator of the Gunners’ attacking play this term, be it from the more advanced role he undertook in the early phase of the campaign, or the more recent role on the left of the midfield three.

The 28-year-old’s brilliance has also brought the best out of the likes of Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil, so there’s no doubt that he has been the main shining light for Arsenal this season.

All they need to do now is persuade him to sign a new deal at the club in the near future.

NOT – Title drought set to continue

Hopes were high at the start of the season (as they are every season) that Arsenal would finally end their long wait for the Premier League title.

2004 was the last time Wenger’s men got their hands on the crown, and that wait looks set to be extended by another season.

The Gunners are fourth in the table and ten points adrift of league leaders Chelsea, with back-to-back defeats to Everton and Manchester City in December, and then successive losses to Watford and Chelsea last month, doing for Wenger’s side.

Once again, they just haven’t taken enough points off their top six rivals, winning just one of their seven matches, with their display at Stamford Bridge a few weeks ago indicative of how far away they are from the top.

Another season will go by without Arsenal winning the Premier League title.

NOT – Another last 16 Champions League exit

It’s not the first time that Arsenal’s season has started to unravel around January/February time, with two league defeats to Watford and Chelsea within five days doing for their Premier League title hopes.

And their thumping 5-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last 16 clash in the Champions League last week looks set to end their European hopes for another season as well.

Wenger’s men went one better this season by winning their group, which consisted of French champions Paris Saint-Germain, but with so many good sides finishing runners-up, it was going to be Arsenal’s luck to draw one of the big boys.

And so it proved, with Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern finishing behind Atletico Madrid in Group D, although still proving too much for the Gunners to handle at the Allianz Arena last week.

Wenger’s side completely capitulated in the second half to once again leave them staring down the barrel of a seventh successive last 16 exit, which again highlights how far they are away from Europe’s elite.

HOT – Silverware opportunity

Arsenal are once again in the battle for a top four finish in the Premier League, which if they managed it would be the 21st successive campaign of qualifying for the Champions League.

However, they have also given themselves the chance of a third FA Cup title in four years after reaching the last eight, where they will face giant-killers Lincoln City for a place in a Wembley semi-final.

Wenger’s men battled past Championship side Preston in round three before thumping Southampton 5-0 in the fourth round, and then avoided an upset by easing past non-league side Sutton United in round five on Monday night.

Thus, they have given themselves an opportunity of silverware this term – there are still the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, and Manchester United left in the draw, but there’s a chance that by the time Arsenal face Lincoln, they will be out of the Champions League, so the FA Cup represents their only chance of a trophy this term.

It’s one they have to take.