Matchweek 10 of the Premier League had its fair share of twists and turns with Arsenal and Manchester City both suffering defeats while Liverpool somehow managed to get past Brighton.
Thanks to these three points, Liverpool have opened up a two-point gap at the top of the table, followed by Man City at number two. The unexpected loss to Newcastle United has been a big blow for the Gunners because they have suddenly slipped to the fifth spot – seven points adrift from the top of the table.
However, pundit Gary Neville is still backing Arsenal to go all the way and lift the Premier League title at the end of May.
Neville said, as quoted by The Standard: “There is an element of them feeling sorry for themselves because they’ve got a few injuries – come on! You can win the league title, become Arsenal legends! No one is interested in whether you’ve got a few injuries, those players will come back, don’t wait for them.
“They’ve had some tough games, going to Newcastle is tough. But Arsenal at this moment, there are big questions being asked. But I don’t rule them out of winning the title – I’ve still got them winning the title. This might be what they need. I might look stupid and people will play this back in months going, ‘What the hell were you talking about?’
“I feel most connected to a title face and I think what does a team need. Man City aren’t quite right, Liverpool aren’t perfect and something you need this serious blip, it has been a poor start, but they could go on a run, get their players back and be very dangerous. Hit your form in March, April and May – that’s when you really want to be flying.”
Will Arsenal overcome so many challenges to lift the Premier League title?
For the previous two seasons, Arsenal have made a very positive start to their campaign but both times, Man City have beaten them to the finish line. In 22/23, they finished 2nd and last season, they missed out on the title by just two points.
Under Mikel Arteta, the Gunners start the season with great pace and energy but by March and April, they run out of steam and blow their chances of winning the league.
Neville is hoping that a repeat of the same will not happen this time but we think, Arsenal will face even greater obstacles. Despite their dodgy form, City and Liverpool are masters at picking up pace towards the final quarter of the season and to make matters even more interesting, Chelsea also look like genuine contenders.
After 10 games, the Blues have already matched Arsenal on points and Maresca will now be giving serious thoughts towards making a push for the EPL title.
Thanks to the revised UCL format, City, Arsenal and Liverpool will have to play an added number of games however, Chelsea are in the Conference Cup and that’s the least of their worries. We are not saying that Chelsea will go all the way but they will undoubtedly make the three teams sweat it out until the final few matchweeks.
As for Arsenal, they will once again be in the mix but whether they will be able to overtake Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race will all depend on how they manage to keep their momentum in the final few weeks of the season.
To put it simply, Manchester City with their vast experience in winning titles and with Pep Guardiola at the helm, remain very much the favourites to defend their title come May of 2025.
