Micah Richards believes that Manchester City’s individual quality makes them the strongest challengers to Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
Rather fortuitously for Pep Guardiola, Manchester City secured a late win over Leeds United to cut the gap at the top of the Premier League to five points.
Meanwhile, the Gunners were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw away at Stamford Bridge following a spirited effort from Mikel Arteta’s team.
Arsenal remain the clear favourites to win the Premier League this term, but Richards has been discussing why the race is not over just yet.
Micah Richards on Man City being Arsenal’s biggest challengers
Micah Richards has picked Man City over Chelsea as Arsenal’s biggest challengers for the Premier League title this term.
The former Premier League defender has doubts about whether Enzo Maresca’s side have enough quality to really push the Gunners.
Meanwhile, he highlighted City’s individual brilliance, with the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden being the reason why they can still challenge the Gunners.
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Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Richards said: “I think Chelsea can challenge them, but I don’t think they’ll have enough.
“I think Man City are still the ones who can challenge them all the way, even though they’re conceding easy goals for their standards. I say that because they’ve got someone like Haaland, who didn’t score against Leeds, but Foden stepped up.”
City face quite a battle to get back into the race, given the electric form of Arsenal, but the eight-time Premier League champions have previously proved they are capable of hunting teams down.
Man City no longer look so reliant on Erling Haaland
For the first time this season, City didn’t look as reliant on Haaland to add his incredible goal tally of 14 in the league.
In fact, Leeds actually managed to stifle the Norwegian striker, who had a frustrating afternoon at the Etihad Stadium.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  ArsenalArsenal | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 7 | 18 | 30 |
| 2 |  Manchester CityManchester City | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 27 | 12 | 15 | 25 |
| 3 |  ChelseaChelsea | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
However, quality from elsewhere in Foden proved to be the difference in the end, as a reminder that he remains one of the Premier League’s top stars.
The 25-year-old managed 71 touches, four shots and one key pass to produce his best performance of the season so far.
Despite many underperforming in this campaign, City’s squad is still star-studded, and the 3-2 win was just a reminder of their depth in quality.
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