Arsenal won’t ‘win PL title’ as ex-Liverpool star reveals key ‘caveat’ with one factor to ‘decide’ race
A former Liverpool star has stuck to his guns and explained why he can’t see Arsenal winning the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal have had a perfect few months, putting in a sensational run since their defeat to Liverpool at the end of August. They won nine and drew one of their next ten matches in all competitions.
This superb form has seen Mikel Artetalateral movement four points clear at the top of the Premier Leaguewith high-flying AFC Bournemouth currently their closest challenger.
It already feels like it would take an almighty for Arsenal not to win the Premier League this season, as they have the most complete squad in the division, while Liverpool and Man City are far from their best.
However, former Liverpool and Man City star David James believes Arsenal will not win the championship this season, even though they have “improved in a lot of different areas”.
“I’d be a fool to say no, I haven’t changed my mind about Arsenal with them at the top of the table,” James told the Metro (via AskGamblers).
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“There’s something I really like about Arsenal. I like the numbers. They’ve improved in so many different areas. In the past if they conceded, it was a strange stat for most of last season, that they wouldn’t score in the second half if they conceded in the first half.
“It was a really weird statistic, and I was just wondering what was going on in the locker room. Now it’s changed to the point where they even came back from losing positions at halftime to win games.
“You look at the Man City game where they lost 1-0 early, and without some ridiculously good defending they would have won that game at the Emirates. So there are improvements there.
“I suppose people might watch the Fulham game and think, well, actually you’ve got the best opportunities here, and it’s still not quite what I’d expect for a team that seems to be in a wonderful position.
James also raised a ‘caution’ that could derail Arsenal’s title quest, while one factor is expected to ‘decide’ the title race.
“The test for them, as I’m sure a lot of people will say, is now that they’re at the top of the table, how are they going to deal with that? James continued.
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“There is another caveat to that because last season they played 14 Champions League games, which means they played 14 Premier League games before those games and they only won four of them and it appeared that the focus was definitely on the Champions League.
“Maybe it was because Liverpool started to slip away in the title race quite early, but the focus seemed to be more on the Champions League than the Premier League, especially towards the end of the season when there was obviously a chance of getting to the final.
“Now this is how Mikel Arteta manages the balance of the Champions League and the Premier League, especially when you are running the Premier League.
“I don’t think Arsenal will win the title if that’s an answer, even though they started well.
“I think Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool will go into the final weeks of the season, or even the last game of the season, and perhaps decide the title race.
“But it will be interesting with Arteta to see how he manages to qualify for the Champions League and maintain that top position in the Premier League, and I don’t think they will be able to do that.”