Arsenal warned why they should “fear” Man City as expert makes Premier League title prediction

Arsenal's Premier League title hopes face a major threat from an improving Manchester City side with “frightening potential”, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

After finishing second in each of the last three Premier League seasons, Arsenal have made a strong start to the current campaign and, for the time being, Mikel Arteta’s men are the hunted rather than the hunters in the title race.

Regarded as favourites to lift this season’s top-flight trophy for the first time in over two decades, Arsenal surprisingly dropped points in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland last weekend, allowing Man City to reduce their lead at the summit to four points courtesy of eye-catching 3-0 win over reigning champions Liverpool on Sunday - a game in which Jeremy Doku produced a "world-class" performance.

While McInerney has acknowledged that Arsenal are “brilliant” and are likely to win the Premier League in the near future in his view, he believes that Man City are “building towards something” under perennial winner Guardiola and the Gunners cannot ignore their latest statement win over Liverpool.

“I would love to read the messages in the Arsenal WhatsApp group. How do you ignore that?” McInerney told Sports Mole after Man City's win over Liverpool. “I know it's all contextual. I know Arsenal will believe in themselves. I know footballers are inherently confident people, [but] how do you ignore that feeling, that sneaking suspicion of doubt or that feeling of ‘here we go again’?

“It might lead to nothing, but if I was Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly, and I was at training with England this week with Declan Rice, I'd be like ‘You alright Declan, how you doing mate? Did you see us yesterday? We were pretty good weren't we?’ How do you not start to think ‘City, here we go again’... Arsenal fans don't want another title race with City.

Why Arsenal should fear Man City in pursuit of Premier League title

“Arsenal are brilliant and at some point they're probably going to win the league, they might even win it this season, but there's very obviously a [Man City] side building towards something here and Guardiola sides are always, always, always better in the second half of the season, just because the inherent nature of what he does requires time.

“Guardiola tweaks his side, he tries new ideas, he works out what doesn't work and he tries new ideas until he gets the full picture around January/February. At that point, he knows what this side can do. He knows what his side can't do. It’s every single season.

“Unless you've got a special season like the ‘Centurions’ season (2017-18) when it all just clicked and [rivals] couldn't keep up, but largely, Guardiola’s sides go on this ridiculous end-of-season run where they just know who they are.

“If I was Arsenal, the fear would be that Arsenal have started off really strongly, and then they drop points to a newly-promoted side (Sunderland). I know it's a very good newly-promoted side, but it's a side that they would have felt [they could beat] if you asked them a month or two ago.

“Of course [Arsenal concede] a last-minute equaliser... and then you see your title rivals, a [Man City] side, that's been apparently underwhelming but starting to find some form, put on a masterclass and beat the champions 3-0 at home. You can't help but notice that!

“You must feel that, because at the highest level, football is so psychological. I know quality, tactics and all that come into it, but often if you've got two great sides, the one that's more confident and wants it tends to win. It really is that simple.

Will Man City pip Arsenal to the Premier League title again?

McInerney does not believe that Arsenal will improve a great deal as the season progresses, but he has backed Man City to get stronger and produce a trademark winning run during the second half of the season.

He said: “We've got to welcome Arsenal to the Etihad still...It's in mid-April which is absolutely perfect! It was around mid-April in the treble-winning season with about four or five games left when City beat them 4-1 and we utterly battered them. That was a relentlessly aggressive performance.

“There's no way this City side isn't better by then. The only way they are not is if something catastrophic happens, severe injuries to multiple players, and at that point anyway - touch wood - there's nothing you can do.

“Right now, I'm feeling confident, but I also sort of don't care in a nice way because I'm just really enjoying this side. My expectations have been sort of confused, a bit muddled this season. I don't really know what to expect.

“What I do know is that I think this is a very good side. It's going to impress people, they're going to do something very exciting this year.

Guardiola’s “electric” Man City side has “frightening potential”

"I don't know what it'll be or in what competition, or it might not be that it leads to anything, but I think they're going to do a few things that are going to impress people. Could that lead to a trophy? I don't rule it out.

“I don't think we're going to see a lot better from Arsenal, but I think we're going to see a lot better from Man City, so we'll see.”

Guardiola has said that his Man City side “proved” that they are ready to challenge for the title again with their impressive performance against Liverpool, and McInerney undoubtedly agrees with the Catalan coach.

“Guardiola would be stupid to say that a team sat four points behind Arsenal with Manchester City's heritage and quality wouldn't challenge the title,” said McInerney. “It'd be almost a dereliction of duty of him to say that.

“You have to capture that lightning in a bottle and this City side right now is electric. It's not perfect, like electric it just sort of flicks out in every direction of thunder, but the point is it is bright, it is sparkling right now this City side.

“Guardiola will try and hone that towards something, because it is a bit erratic, it is a bit all over the place, but it's full of vigour. It's so fun to watch and it's got frightening potential, I really do believe that.”

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