Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira and ex-Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure have backed Arsenal to win the Premier League this season. The Gunners returned to the top of the table following a 4-2 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, with Pep Guardiola's side only managing a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forrest.
The Gunners are now two points ahead of City and also have a game in hand on their title rivals. With several players missing Arsenal training on Monday morning, Mikel Arteta will be keen to get as many players back fit as possible as the Spaniard prepares his side for a trip to Leicester City on Saturday.
Vieira, who won the Premier League three times with Arsenal, believes the title is now the Gunners’ to lose this season. Speaking to William Hill he said: "I think the Premier League title is Arsenal’s to lose, to be honest with you.
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“I think Arsenal did really well against Aston Villa on Saturday, to bounce back with that 4-2 win at Villa Park. They are just in a really good place at the moment, with a lot of confidence.
“But I still believe Manchester City will chase Arsenal until the very last day of the Premier League season. But I think it’s Arsenal’s title to lose.”
Toure, who won three Premier League titles with the Citizens between 2010 and 2018, agrees with Vieira and admits he feels the same sense of optimism from the Gunners as he did in title-winning seasons with Barcelona.
“Sometimes you can just see when teams believe,” he said. “When I was playing for Barcelona, you could feel yourself thinking, ‘OK, I think we’re going to be champions’, the same in England and with my national team, and I’m getting that feeling with Arsenal.
“I want Manchester City to win the league as a fan, but let’s see. Arsenal deserve to be where they are now for what they’re doing; they’ve been in fantastic form for several months now.
“I watched the Arsenal vs Manchester City game at the Emirates, and thought that Arsenal looked really strong; they were unlucky to lose. I definitely think Arsenal can win the title, but it’s far from the end yet, so we’ll have to see what happens in the next few games.
“Arsenal are playing some really good football, but let’s hope Manchester City win it!”
It remains to be seen who will be lifting the Premier League trophy come May, but Arsenal fans will certainly be hoping it is Martin Odegaard and not Ilkay Gundogan.
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