Arsenal know that defeat away at Manchester City next weekend will blow the Premier League title race wide open and Wayne Rooney has had his say on the big match
Wayne Rooney speaking on a podcast
Wayne Rooney thinks Manchester City have the edge over Arsenal ahead of their meeting on Sunday(Image: BBC/The Wayne Rooney Show)
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Wayne Rooney has urged Arsenal to "play dirty" in their seismic title decider at Manchester City on Sunday after claiming that Pep Guardiola and Co will have the mental edge over their rivals.
The Premier League's top two will meet in a mouthwatering encounter at The Etihad on Sunday, with City knowing that victory would cut the gap between them and Arsenal to just three points ahead of their game in hand on the Gunners. Momentum is with them, too, after they swatted Chelsea aside on Sunday, barely 24 hours after Arsenal were stunned on their own patch by Bournemouth.
Mikel Arteta has guided Arsenal to three successive second place finishes in the Premier League, twice missing out on the title to City.
But with concerns over their ability to see the job through growing in the wake of their sizeable lead at the Premier League summit evaporating, Rooney says City have the psychological edge going into the weekend.
"I think City will have the edge on that [psychologically], just purely the manager and players they've got. They will be able to stay a little calmer than the Arsenal players," he said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
"They will be worried because when you go on a run and lose a few games, you start thinking 'where's the next goal, the next win going to come from?' That negative mindset really has an impact on your performance."
Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki celebrate
Manchester City beat Chelsea on Sunday to cut the gap on Arsenal(Image: Ryan Pierse, Getty Images)
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Arsenal were beaten by Manchester City a fortnight ago in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley but had won four consecutive league games prior to their surprise 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Bournemouth.
Arteta's men rescued a late draw in the reverse fixture earlier in the season but will have to beat City in their own backyard if they are to put fresh distance between them and their nearest challengers.
Arsenal and Mikel Arteta know defeat at The Etihad could prove to be catastrophic for their title hopes(Image: Getty Images)
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And Rooney reckons Arsenal may have to "play dirty" in order to do so, saying the north London outfit must "be tough to break down, make sure there's no gaps between the lines and try to hit them on the break".
He added: "Whether the fans like that type of football or not, they have to do anything to stop City winning. They need to be resilient enough to stop City from scoring."