8 Truths: Arsenal slip up (again) as Chelsea seal the title, Capoue channels his inner Lionel Messi

Chelsea are going to win the league. An obvious statement, yes, but on that is especially true right now. Of the top six sides, they are the only one whose bottom level is remotely close to their top level, who know what to do and when to do it, who can be trusted. They are not brilliant, far from it, but the consistency they have achieved is extremely brilliant and the title is in the bag. If Antonio Conte can buy the right players in the summer then it will be hard for anyone to improve enough to catch them next season.

Arsenal have blown their title challenge. A side with serious title aspirations should be winning their home games at the very least, and they should be brushing aside teams from the lower reaches of the table. This was a confused, confusing performance from them in the first half, with the central midfield lacking bite and organisation. They're now nine points behind Chelsea and will need their title rivals to slip up spectacularly if they are going to claim the league title that's eluded them for so many years.

Tottenham’s struggles on the road may cost them dear in their pursuit of the title this season. While White Hart Lane has become something of a fortress, Spurs have now have won just two of their last nine away league matches. Almost as bad for Pochettino was the display of England pair Dele Alli and Harry Kane. Formidable at home, the duo were strangely subdued on the night against a side who have only kept two clean-sheets in their 22 league matches this season. What is the problem? A lack of space maybe, or tired legs after such a heavy Christmas schedule – both of those could be the case. Or it could be that expecting Alli and Kane to constantly deliver is a damning indictment of the other attacking players in the squad.

January has not been a good month for Jurgen Klopp’s side, to say the least. But Liverpool are still a very good team, which they showed with a spirited performance against league leaders Chelsea. Even a winless month in the Premier League hasn’t scuppered Liverpool’s hopes of a top four finish, with second-placed Spurs just a point above Klopp’s boys despite a run of four matches without a win. Defeats in the FA Cup and League Cup were hugely disappointing, yes, but they have also had an overly negative impact on the perception of the first-team’s quality, which remains high.

Swansea have picked up nine points from the four games since Paul Clement’s arrival – already more than Bob Bradley accrued – and look like a side more than capable of staying up. The new signings have settled in quickly, with Luciano Narsingh impressing tonight as he set up Gylfi Sigurdsson’s winner, and they look more organised at the back, albeit still unable to keep clean sheets. With attacking talent like Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente at his disposal, Clement has shown that he doesn’t always need clean-sheets. While there's still some way to go, so far so good.

Struggling for a goal against a defensively compact Sunderland, Mauricio Pochettino turned to his Tottenham bench and called on the club’s record signing. But to say that Sissoko’s impact was negligible would be kind on the French midfielder. The former Newcastle and wannabe Real Madrid man failed to make any kind of impact on the game and looked sluggish both on and off the ball. Spurs bought Sissoko to offer them something different, someone who could drive forward and break the lines. But what they’ve got at the moment is the player that many Tottenham fans feared they had signed.

Middlesbrough missed out on at least three targets during the January transfer window as Aitor Karanka set about addressing his side’s lack of proficiency in front of goal with creative midfielders Robert Snodgrass, Bojan and Jese Rodriguez all moving elsewhere. And, unfortunately for Karanka, that lack of firepower showed against West Brom on Tuesday night. The Teessiders haven’t scored in six of their last nine Premier League games and in their 1-1 draw with West Brom on Tuesday they failed to find the net in open play once more. The Spaniard did add Aston Villa flop Rudy Gestede and unproven Patrick Bamford to his squad this month, but neither is the answer in attack and Boro’s lack of potency could well prove fatal to their Premier League status. Karanka's side may have mastered the top tier defensively but his attacking line-up is clearly not up to the task.

Arsenal knew they were in for a tough evening when Younes Kaboul’s free-kick deflected in to give Watford a lead at the Emirates. But what they didn’t realise was that they were coming up against the second-coming of Lionel Messi. Former Spurs midfielder Capoue is a talented player, capable of producing some silky moments. But rarely has he looked as world-class as he did after winning the ball in midfield and picking his way through the Arsenal defence with a mazy run that Barcelona’s main man would have been proud of.