The Premier League title race is well underway, and Arsenal are more than wary of Manchester City’s presence.
Arsenal will be top of the table on Christmas Day, which brings as much confidence as it does fear.
The last time that Arsenal won the league, having sat top at Christmas, was 78 years ago, but that doesn’t just forecast doom and gloom.
The outlook would be just as ominous if Man City were top at Christmas, as Pep Guardiola’s side have never not won the league when doing so.
With 21 games left to play, there are no certainties in the Premier League title race just yet, though Micah Richards thinks one thing is inevitable.
Arsenal are top at Christmas, how sure are you that history won’t repeat itself?
Micah Richards thinks Manchester City will always outscore Arsenal
Richards thinks Erling Haaland is Arsenal’s biggest problem in the title race, and he’s right.
Already, the Man City striker has scored 19 Premier League goals, 14 more than Arsenal’s top scorer thus far.
Richards spoke about what could decide the title race on The Rest Is Football podcast, where he stated that Man City will ‘always’ score more than the Gunners.
“I think Arsenal are better defensively and Man City better offensively, and I think Man City will always outscore Arsenal, even going into the new year,” Richards said.
“So it just depends on form at the time. I think if Man City were to lose Haaland, it’d be for Arsenal. I also think if Arsenal were to lose Saka, it’d be for Man City. That’s how tight I think it is.”
The title race will be tight, making the margins for error so minuscule.
Richards is right, however, as Arsenal have the defensive upper hand, but when it comes to scoring, City know how to punish teams.
Already, the pundit’s take is in play, as City have a better goal difference than Arsenal, scoring 10 goals more than the Gunners heading into the 18th matchday.
Mikel Arteta already knows that Arsenal’s best isn’t enough to beat Man City to the title
City are experts at scoring, but that doesn’t mean that Arsenal can’t get close.
In the 2023/24 season, Arsenal actually ended the campaign with the same goal difference as City, missing out by just two points.
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That season taught Arteta just how small the room for error is, as he explained in a recent interview with TNT Sports.
“The year before [2023/24] we scored the most goals in the history of Arsenal football club, and the less goals conceded and the most clean sheets and the most wins, you still don’t win the league.
“That’s the demands that we have. So almost everything has to be perfect in this league to give yourself the chance to win it.”
It takes perfection to beat Manchester City to the title if they are at their best, now the world is watching to see if the Gunners can achieve it.
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