Mikel Arteta has responded to claims that Arsenal have an advantage over Manchester City in the Premier League title race. The Gunners regained a five-point lead over the reigning champions following a rampant win over Fulham at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola's side almost lost their foothold in the title race on Saturday against Crystal Palace had it not been for Erling Haaland, who scored a penalty in the latter stages of the tie. In the Spaniard's post-match interview, he explained why the north London outfit are better positioned to win the league despite City's far greater experience.
"Still Arsenal are the favourites because they are up front," said Guardiola. " They make an incredible first leg [of the season], they drop a little bit then come back again.
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"They have many years without winning the Premier League and they give you this extra that helps you win games in 93rd minute, 98th minute, that’s something they have which we don’t have because we won back-to-back two times. That’s why when the people say 'what about your opinion of the team and the season', after two times back-to-back, one team gets 50 points in the first leg, still we are there.
"Normally in this country when you win something a lot and you don’t start the season well or someone is better, you drop or you are not consistent. But still we are there. This is the best trophy and compliment we can have.
"I don’t know what will happen at the end of the season but they know we want to be there and we will fight to be there and this is great."
Then, after the win over Fulham on Sunday, Arteta was quizzed on Guardiola's claims. When asked whether if it's a advantageous or not that City are chasing them in the title race, the Arsenal boss replied: "I don’t know.
"We discuss what we discuss internally to be really humble, to work on the next training session and try to be better every day. That’s our focus, there’s still a huge part of the season to be played."
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