Manchester City suffered yet another defeat as their poor run of form continued on Wednesday night, something that Arsenal will be keeping a close eye on with regards to the Premier League title race.
Arsenal have been beaten to Premier League honours by City in each of the last two seasons. With Pep Guardiola's side falling away in this race, it could be seen as an opportunity for Arsenal - unfortunately for the Gunners, though, Liverpool currently sit at the top of the table after a near-faultless start under Arne Slot's guidance.
City were in Champions League action on Wednesday night, falling to a 2-0 defeat against Juventus. It means that they have now won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions.
After the match, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan admitted that his side are low on confidence. "You can see that we're sometimes one action we miss the ball or lose a duel and you see that we drop immediately and lose the rhythm," he told TNT Sports.
Gundogan added: "They don't even need to do much, but it has such a big effect on us right now. Even more you have to do the simple things as good as possible and create, and be fluid, and then it's going to work hard again."
Following that interview, former Premier League defender Rio Ferdinand also highlighted the key aspect of City's performances that have changed over the last few weeks.
"One of the things that I took from his interview, without saying it there's a bit of a broken mentality within the group..." the footballer-turned-pundit told TNT Sports. "From being a team that are built with players who one of their strengths is if they make mistakes, with the ball or without the ball, it is quickly forgotten.
"That is a big thing of Pep's, it's one of the hallmarks of his players, over the years we have seen that - you make a mistake, move on, and not a problem. They're making mistakes now and there is a hangover for probably the next three or four phases of play.
"That is when big mistakes start happening and we saw that they conceded the goal, they capitulated and you're thinking there is going to be another one at any point. That is a big problem.
"There seems to be a confusion with how to react and what to do.
"Their finger is on the pulse with what is going on because there are so many people analysing the game and so much data, so they're going to know everything, and where the problem is. But getting players out on the pitch lacking confidence and aren't used to this is the difficult part, that's where we're asking now; 'Pep, can you answer this call? Can you build these players back up to make them immortal again like they were'?"
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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