The Football Insider With Mikael Silvestre: Gunners Prove Title Credentials Against City
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)
Scoring five goals against a Manchester City side who have for years been the best in the world was an incredible achievement for Arsenal at the weekend.
If they hit those heights for the rest of the season they can do so much more in terms of giving themselves a fighting chance in the title race with Liverpool.
We all know they could do with a striker but the transfer market is just so tough in January – especially when it comes to a goalscorers – and it looks like they will need to head into battle without one.
That means goals need to come from everywhere and against City the Gunners showed they are capable of that with some fantastic football that left City gasping for breath in the second half.
When I moved to Arsenal the three key players in the team were William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie and they were world class. Arsenal in 2025 do have players of that standard with the likes of Declan Rice in the middle of the park and as we saw at the weekend some real emerging stars.
The manager is also improving all the time and from my days playing against Mikel Arteta it was clear he was a very intelligent football man. He has taken that into management and his side has steel and skill in equal measure.
Arteta has been in some superb dressing rooms and will be able to inspire his side towards the finishing line and I expect, and hope, they will at the very least push Liverpool to the final weekend of the season.
The challenge they have is the Anfield outfit are purring like a well-oiled machine at the moment and pulling out victories when a draw looks likely.
It is hard to see this season not being a home run for them and although I am sure they will have a blip I am not certain it will be enough to derail a title heading to Merseyside.
They also don't really have a true goalscorer in the classic mould and like Arsenal they spread that responsibility throughout the team.
There is always the chance they lose Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah and that would really hurt them – those two are having seasons up there with the very best in Premier League history and the fans will be desperate for them to stay beyond the end of this season.
What we do know is analysing Arsenal and Liverpool this weekend is that they are heading for a title duel in the coming months and it should be fascinating to see how they each handle fixtures, injuries and pressure.
Title races are what truly make a season memorable and the way Arsenal took City down on Sunday proves to me we definitely have one on our hands.
(Former French defender Mikael Silvestre won five Premier League titles with Manchester United. He was also part of the United team that won the 2008 Champions League title)
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