Arsenal have been told by Liverpool legend John Barnes they will fall short in the Premier League title race with Manchester City because of the lack of experience in their squad. The Gunners sit five points clear of their nearest rivals, but Barnes has tipped Pep Guardiola's side to secure their fourth successive league triumph in England.
Despite going a goal down against West Ham, Arsenal were able to maintain their gap at the top of the table, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah scoring in the comeback win. Two days later City reduced the gap back to five points after they beat Leeds 3-1, with Erling Haaland now at 20 goals for the season.
Understandably, many have cited Haaland's goal threat as the main reason why City will win another Premier League title over Arsenal, but Barnes believes that the main difference is one controlled in north London, not Manchester.
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Speaking to BonusCodeBets, he said: "I would still say Man City are favourites, because of their experience. Arsenal are still a young side and doing very well, a bit like Newcastle. I may be wrong but with their youth I don’t expect them to still not lose matches.
"Whereas you can’t see Man City losing many matches. But, the closer it gets, if they’re still five-six points ahead, maybe I’ll change my mind.
"But I still think, because of their youth that they have, come February-March, where it’s not about playing well, it’s about getting matches done and winning even if you’re not playing well, can Arsenal do that consistently, between now and the end of the season to hold off Man City? I don’t think they can but I won’t be surprised if they do."
Barnes was keen to not entirely rule Arsenal out of the race citing examples from this season where they have been up against it and still been able to come away with the win.
He added: "When they play and go ahead, they’ve been really good but when they go behind now, they come back. We saw that against West Ham.
"Against Liverpool, when Liverpool came back, they continued to go forward. So I think that the one-two more years of experience they’ve had has put them in a good spot."
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