When Manchester City defeated Arsenal at the Etihad, many were convinced that the Premier League title would return to Manchester once again. However, a few think the Londoners are not down and out.
Arsenal have rebounded from this crushing loss and looks reborn. Crushing Chelsea and holding their nerve in a heaving St. James’ Park has steadied the ship.
On the other side of the coin, Manchester City are still in the Champions League and may take their eye off the league to finally secure what has eluded them for so long.
Brian Kerr spoke to Stephen Doyle on Off The Ball about why he thinks the Gunners are not down and out.
“Manchester City also have two Champions League games in Madrid this week,” said Kerr. “We saw yesterday they made six or seven changes. They still looked like a strong team but didn't win that convincingly. Yesterday, it was only 2-1. That was the manager with an eye on the Real Madrid match during the week. He held a few back. He held Jack Grealish back. Bernardo Silva is another one that did not play.”
“Two important players that play attacking positions. They did not look much weaker up there at that attacking of the pitch. Probably did not look that much weaker all around. Nevertheless, at the same time, if he does that in one of these league matches and it does not work for them, who knows?”
“They have not got the easiest run-in. I would say Manchester City; they have three away games out of four—Arsenal's trickiest match. I would say Brighton, who are a very good side and are capable of going to Arsenal and getting a point or even winning the match. The match against Nottingham Forest will be a difficult one because Forest will still be trying to scrape out of the relegation zone.”
“The Wolves match, they should be capable of winning, but at this stage, would you say Arsenal could get nine points? They could get nine points, but they might get a bit less. But I think they've got to get nine points for if they're going to edge Manchester City because they need to. City haven't lost a match since, I think, the Spurs match in February, and since then in the league, I think maybe they've won 11 games in a row.”
“What Arsenal need to do is got to win the three games, but they only need Manchester City to draw one game, and that gets them back into the situation where they can win it.”
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