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Arsene Wenger has told beIN Sports that he believes that Arsenal will win the Premier League this season, claiming that Manchester City are much more vulnerable defensively than in previous years.
The Gunners, who sit three points ahead of Manchester City at the summit of the table, have not been crowned champions since Wenger’s star-studded ‘Invincibles’ went undefeated in 2003-04.
But two negative results on the spin – a 1-0 loss to Everton at Goodison Park and 1-1 draw with Brentford last weekend – has cast fresh doubt over whether Arsenal will lift the elusive trophy in May.
Mikel Arteta’s side host the reigning champions at the Emirates on Wednesday in what promises to be a crucial six-pointer in the title race, with City able to leapfrog the Gunners with a win should they emerge victorious.
Wenger fears his old club will regret not capitalising on their fruitful start to the season, as traditional title rivals such as Liverpool and Chelsea will likely bounce back next campaign.
“You win it when you can win it and you don’t care too much about the rest; you take the title and let the rest talk about it,” the Frenchman told beIN Sport.
“I agree the conditions next season won’t be as favourable as they are now so lets not miss this opportunity. Arsenal has 51 points after 21 games which is remarkable.
The Frenchman was asked whether Arsenal will win the title this season. And he seemed pretty confident.
“I would say yes because I feel the usual threats in the Premier League are all out of the race, and the only threat is City,” he added.
“And even City is not as dominant as they were last year or two years before. And I feel since the start of the season, City was more vulnerable defensively than they were the years before.”
Pep Guardiola’s side have experienced issues of their own of late, suffering defeat against Tottenham before returning to winning ways at the Etihad versus Aston Villa on Sunday.
Despite the exceptional goal-scoring tally chalked up by Erling Haaland, who has already netted 25 Premier League goals since arriving from Borussia Dortmund for £51million last summer, City have already lost more matches than they did during the entirety of last season.
The champions have also endured a host of off-pitch issues in 2023 – sanctioning Joao Cancelo’s bitter exit to Bayern Munich in January before facing a host of charges from the Premier League for allegedly breaching financial rules.
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