Pep Guardiola has described Arsenal as "exceptional" and admitted his Manchester City team should be top of the Premier League table. It is Arsenal who top the table and will remain there at Christmas should they beat Wolves in their final Premier League game before the break for the World Cup this weekend.
The Gunners hold a two-point lead over Guardiola's Citizens, having dropped points in just two games this season - against Manchester United and Southampton. It has been, as Guardiola says, an exceptional start to the 2022/23 season for Mikel Arteta and his men, particularly given the heartache of missing out on Champions League football in the last three games of last season to fierce rivals Tottenham.
Arteta has always called for supporters to "trust the process" and that process appears to be coming to fruition this season. There is, however, still a long way to go and Arteta will be anxiously watching the World Cup, hoping his players all come back with a clean bill of health.
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Guardiola, who has overseen dominance from his Manchester City team in the last two seasons, would have been hoping for a third Premier League crown in a row and a fifth in the last six years. But Arsenal look like being the ones to attempt to put a dent in that this time around.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the final round of fixtures, Guardiola praised what his former assistant manager Arteta has been doing at the Emirates Stadium. He said: "We could be top of the league! But Arsenal have been exceptional. I think yesterday one guy on my staff told me that we had more points in the Premier League [at this stage of the season] than I think in the last four seasons!
"So that means we have been really good, but another team has been better. We have to accept it. This is the level, the bar, the standards."
Arsenal are certainly setting the standard, they just have to keep it up.
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