Arsene Wenger says a tough November schedule will reveal whether Arsenal are truly title challengers this season.
Arsenal are currently level on 23 points with Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table but have just completed a run of four successive games against lower-table opposition in October.
Their next two league games come at home to Tottenham Hotspur and away to Manchester United and they then face a potentially crucial Champions League home game against Paris Saint-Germain, which could decide the winner of Group A.
Wenger, who has seen his team stumble at this time of year in the past, told reporters after Saturday's 4-1 win over Sunderland: "We now have a difficult November. By the end of the November we'll know more about ourselves.
"I believe we are more mature than previous seasons, yes, but that's what we want to show over a longer distance, and that's what is at stake."
Last year, Arsenal also had a strong October with four straight league wins, including a 3-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates and a 2-0 home success over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
But they started November with a 5-1 loss at Bayern and ended the month without a league win, drawing at Tottenham and Norwich City and losing to West Bromwich Albion.
There is a hope among supporters that this season will be different, with Arsenal playing some of their best football in years and showing great strength in depth, but there was already a blip in the 0-0 home draw against Middlesbrough that exposed some familiar shortcomings.
However, Wenger said "the desire and the mentality is great in the side" even after setbacks.
"We have a great togetherness and we have quality as well, so they are good ingredients, but we have to show that we can do it week in, week out," he said. "This win [at Sunderland] strengthens our belief that we can bounce back from the disappointing result we had last week and that we can also bounce back within a game when it doesn't go our way.
"Overall I believe it can convince the team that we're playing the right way."
Wenger has also been buoyed by the return of Aaron Ramsey after a hamstring injury, with the Wales midfielder contending for a start at Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday.
With Santi Cazorla struggling with an Achilles problem, there could be room for Ramsey to take on the creative role in central midfield.
"He is a player who is box-to-box so overall he pushes the team forward," Wenger said of Ramsey. "He has a tremendous drive, he's a bit [Frank] Lampard-ish you know, where he likes to get in the box, likes to shoot from distance and has similar quality."