Les Ferdinand believes he’s figured out a disadvantage Arsenal have in the Premier League title race as we head into the business end of the season.
Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League for over 20 years at this point, and Ferdinand believes the Gunners are at a disadvantage by virtue of being a London club.
Indeed, according to the former England star, it’s harder for any London club to win the Premier League due to the sheer number of derbies they have to play.
Derby matches are, of course, more emotional than most Premier League games, and, unlike some of their rivals, Arsenal have to play these higher-stakes matches more often.
Of course, the Gunners beat Tottenham 4-1 last weekend, and now, they have to face Chelsea on Sunday in another crunch London clash.
Fill the blanks, it’ll be __ years until Tottenham next finish above Arsenal.
Les Ferdinand says London clubs find it harder to win the Premier League
Ferdinand shared his verdict on Arsenal’s title chances on his TikTok page and why he thinks they have a disadvantage compared to a team like Manchester City.
City, of course, only have one other Manchester team to compete with in the Premier League, while there are no fewer than six London clubs in the Premier League who would all love to get something against Arsenal.
“Massive game again. And this is why I think it’s so tough for a team in London to win the Premier League because Arsenal come off the back of a beating to Tottenham 4-1. Yes, there’ll be a high, but there’s the emotions that go with that North London derby,” Ferdinand said.
“It’s not just the physicality, it’s not just the running around tactics, emotions building up to the game, you know, because it’s every fan, every Tottenham fan wants them to beat Arsenal, every Arsenal fan wants them to beat Tottenham. So there’s a load of emotions riding on it. And now they’ve got Chelsea this weekend. The week after all those emotions, they’ve got another emotional game.”
Les Ferdinand’s London comments don’t quite add up
Les Ferdinand does make a good point here, but, in the same breath, his comments don’t quite add up.
Manchester United are the most successful team in Premier League history, and while they may not have had that many hyper-local rivals in the Premier League, they’ve had plenty of high-stakes derby games to contend with.
This is Petr Cech’s Arsenal vs Chelsea combined XI. What changes would you make?
Let’s face it, while they’re not in the same city, Manchester United vs Leeds or Manchester United vs Liverpool is a much more feisty affair than Arsenal vs Fulham or Arsenal vs Brentford.
The fact that Arsenal have to play more ‘derby’ matches is a factor, but, realistically, most top Premier League teams have had to face similar sorts of things, even if their rivals are the next city over rather than just down the road.
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