Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has warned that Manchester City must not be written out of Premier League title contention.
Speaking ahead of his side's fixture against City’s neighbours Manchester United on Wednesday, Arteta also said Bukayo Saka has the potential to emulate former Old Trafford star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Arsenal host United nine points adrift of table-topping Liverpool, but two points clear of City with Pep Guardiola’s side slumping to four consecutive defeats in the league and six losses in seven in all competitions – the worst run of the Spaniard’s managerial career.
However, when asked how vulnerable City now are, Arteta – Guardiola’s former assistant – replied: "It is a team that has the capacity to turn this around and win, win, win and win. Don’t rule them out because you know how much quality and the coach that they have."
Arsenal head into Wednesday’s match at the Emirates second in the table after returning from the international break with an impressive 5-1 victory at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League sandwiched by a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest and a 5-2 triumph at West Ham.
United are 15 points off the Premier League summit, and half a dozen points behind the Gunners, but Arteta did not rule out new head coach Ruben Amorim’s side launching a surprise title bid.
"We are still very early in the season, and any team that has got the capacity to put five or six wins in a row is going to be up there," Arteta said.
"It is so tough and you see every week how the teams are struggling to maintain winning, winning and winning. I think anything is possible."
He continued: "You can see his (Amorim’s) fingerprints in what he wants to do straight away. He’s been very clear with what he wants to do.
"What he did with Sporting was remarkable after so many years. Especially the way he did it and the way his teams are playing.
"It brings energy to a new club and the players, which is always positive. But we have to focus on what we’re doing."
Saka has found the back of the net in all three of Arsenal’s latest wins, and his two assists at the London Stadium on Saturday took him to 10 for the season to make him the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach double figures.
The England international, 23, has been involved in 15 goals for the Gunners in the league this term, leaving him just one behind Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
"In terms of the numbers, we always see a shift in Bukayo every single year," Arteta added. "He is providing something else.
"He is adding things to his game, he is more and more consistent and, as obviously his numbers in terms of impact in goals and assists, is incredible at this stage of the season.
"He can only improve, he can only get better. He has got the right players around him to continue to do so and especially because he wants more."
Saka has admitted Ronaldo was his childhood idol, and Arteta was asked whether the winger should look to match the Portuguese’s stunning career statistics.
"To look is always good," said Arteta. "The way Cristiano started his career, and when he joined Manchester United, nobody probably expected in the first few seasons he would be able to do that.
"But again, it was about his mentality, his work ethic, how he developed his skill, his chemistry with his team and to play in a team that has the capacity as well to be dominant.
"That is very, very important. I think Bukayo has got that context and if he is aiming for that, I think it is a positive thing."