"I still view them as favourites" - Louis Saha makes Premier League title prediction involving Arsenal and Manchester City
Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha recently tipped Arsenal to trump Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. The Gunners hold a five-point lead over the defending champions at the top of the Premier League table.
Saha believes Mikel Arteta's side will manage to keep up their advantage and will deny Pep Guardiola's team the chance to win back-to-back Premier League titles.
He said (via Metro):
"Of course Manchester City will challenge Arsenal but the Gunners have a big lead right now. The pressure is obviously on Arsenal but I still view them as favourites, despite the fact Man City have more experience in their squad."
The north Londoners have 66 points from 27 matches. They are set to be reinvigorated now that Gabriel Jesus is back from injury. The Brazilian, who was signed from City in the summer, missed several months of action after having surgery on his knee.
Jesus has so far scored five goals and provided seven assists in 21 matches for the Cityzens. Saha opined that the Brazilian's return is a massive boost for the Gunners.
He said:
"The big thing for Arsenal is the return of Gabriel Jesus – that will help them in terms of adding depth to the squad and providing even more creativity."
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is happy with comeback after defeat to Manchester City
The Gunners lost to the Cityzens at the Emirates when the two sides met earlier in the season. The game ended 3-1 in favor of the visitors.
Arteta's team, though, have shown tremendous resilience since the loss. After the league leaders defeated Fulham 3-0 in their latest Premier League clash, Martin Odegaard lauded the team's character, saying (via ESPN):
"That's what we've done the whole season. They'll always be people talking about us. When we had some injuries there were people talking but we've just had the same focus the whole time. It was the same after Man City. I think a lot of things we did in the game we did well and we didn't do that the last time we played them so we showed we have improved a lot."
Odegaard further highlighted the team's hunger, saying:
"We just came in the next day wanting to bounce back and make sure we got even better. I think that's the main thing about this team, we're so hungry to improve every day."
The two top teams will once again meet in their final league showdown of the season on April 27.