Arsenal go into the weekend at the top of the Premier League table but Manchester City and Liverpool are ready to take advantage if the Gunners slip up between now and May
Top-of-the-table Arsenal shouldn’t overlook Liverpool in the Premier League title race, according to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. Three straight league defeats have seen Arne Slot’s reigning champions fall to fourth, but they’re only four points adrift of the league leaders.
Going into this weekend’s fixtures, Arsenal have 19 points and City have 16, with Liverpool a point further back and behind third-placed Bournemouth on goal difference. Three points for Slot’s men against Brentford on Saturday night would put the pressure back on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, who take on Crystal Palace on Sunday.
City also play on Sunday, away at Aston Villa, and Guardiola was asked before the fixture about teams being overlooked when it comes to the title battle. “Well, in the first two games, three games, yeah for sure we [City] are out,” he told reporters.
“And Liverpool is already done, and now it looks like Liverpool is done. And I’ll tell you that they will be back. I’ve said many times, I know all the pundits, all the specialists or former players, they know everything that is going to happen after five games, I’m not able to do that.
“So, always I wait for 10, 15 games to know exactly what is going on. But I think obviously Liverpool and Arsenal are there, someone else will be there, hopefully we can be there.”
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Arsenal have already faced Liverpool and City once each, losing at Anfield and holding Guardiola’s team at the Emirates Stadium. They have been incredibly tough to break down, conceding three goals in all competitions this season and none at all in October.
They could be without centre-back Gabriel for Sunday’s match, though. “Big Gabi had to leave the pitch with an issue and he hasn’t been able to train yet, so let’s see how he evolves in the next 24 hours to see whether he’s available or not for the weekend,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
If Arsenal keep up their current defensive record in the league, they are on track to better Chelsea’s record of just 15 goals conceded across a whole season. Arteta, however, is refusing to get carried away at this early stage of the campaign.
“The defensive record is very good, but we need to be consistent; it’s only just the start of the season,” the Spaniard said. “The aim is to continue improving things, which we can still do a lot of, to do even better.”
Upcoming opponents Palace were among the sides to dent Arsenal’s defence last season when the teams met in North London in April. The Eagles twice came from behind, eventually rescuing a point when Jean-Philippe Mateta found the net seven minutes from time.
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