Chris Sutton says Arsenal are clearly better than Man City in one aspect

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Chris Sutton believes Arsenal have a significant advantage over Manchester City in one specific aspect.

The Gunners are now seemingly locked into a Premier League title race with the Citizens, after Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap to just four points over the weekend.

City beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad the day after Brian Brobbey denied Arsenal a huge three points away at Sunderland in the 94th minute.

These results have set up for a fascinating period after the international break, with the North Londoners’ fixtures ramping up, while the Manchester side have a winnable run.

• READ MORE: Confirmed Arsenal summer 2025 transfer ins and outs, signings and done deals

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	ArsenalArsenal	11	8	2	1	20	5	15	26
2	Manchester CityManchester City	11	7	1	3	23	8	15	22

Chris Sutton says Arsenal have a better bench than Man City

Arsenal spent £250 million on eight new players over the summer.

This unprecedented window was sparked by the Gunners’ injury crisis last season, with Mikel Arteta feeling that he needed significantly more depth to deal with fitness setbacks.

So far this campaign, this approach has paid dividends as Arsenal have had a number of injuries but have been able to cope due to the size of their squad.

The likes of Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke are all expected to return to full fitness after the international break, meaning Arteta will finally be able to name an extremely strong bench.

Speaking on the BBC’s 606, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton claimed Arsenal actually have a stronger bench than City when their players are all available.

“Yeah, they all need playing time. That’s the thing. And to be honest, no, I don’t think City are one horse team and they do have, I mean, look at the bench. Just look at the bench, never mind the people playing on the pitch,” a caller said.

“Is it as strong as Arsenal’s bench? Not really,” Sutton replied.

Comparing Arsenal and Manchester City’s best possible benches

Sutton’s hypothesis is easy to test by simply looking at the best possible benches each team could name with everyone fit.

Arteta made just one substitution against Sunderland, largely because of the lack of senior attacking options he had at his disposal.

However, when everyone is fit and the Gunners play what many would deem to be their best possible line-up, their options are frightening.

The suggested best Arsenal bench above assumes that Eberechi Eze starts on the left wing, alongside Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres, with their strongest midfield and back four behind them.

This nine-man list of substitutes omits the likes of Piero Hincapie, Christian Norgaard, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman, who may not even make matchday squads when everyone is fit.

Meanwhile, City’s best bench assumes Tijani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Omar Marmoush and Jeremy Doku all start with Rodri and Erling Haaland.

Not making Guardiola’s bench are the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis and Kalvin Phillips.

On balance, there’s probably very little between the quality of the two squads.