Mikel Arteta is hoping to guide Arsenal to the Premier League title next month, but two things could see Manchester City pip them to the post
Mikel Arteta looks upset
Manchester City will look to beat Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title(Image: Alex Livesey - Danehouse, Getty Images)
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Matthew Upson has suggested that Manchester City's "fresher condition" and current form could prove costly for Arsenal in their Premier League title bid. Mikel Arteta will be hoping to lead the Gunners to their first league championship in over two decades next month, and finds himself in a strong position to do so.
Arsenal currently top the Premier League table, three points clear of City, as they prepare for their final four matches of the campaign. However, given that the club held a seven-point advantage over their domestic rivals last month, before defeats to Bournemouth and City themselves, there is a compelling case that the Gunners have experienced a dip in form of late.
When you factor in that City have remained unbeaten in the Premier League since their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in January - a period during which Arsenal have suffered three domestic losses - Pep Guardiola undoubtedly holds the upper hand. Upson, speaking exclusively to our sister title football.london via SeatPick, a leading aggregator for reliable sports and music tickets online, cautioned that the destination of the title could ultimately come down to which side has more in the tank as the season reaches its climax.
When questioned about Arsenal's recent decline in form, he said: "It's probably a couple of things for me. I think it's Arsenal putting a monumental effort into the first six months of the season, going down a very specific pathway about how they're going to achieve winning football matches and executing it pretty well, to the point where everyone's looking at and thinking, like you said, 'It looks like they could well do it this season.'
"And I think, you know, the downturn in form that Manchester City had last season, the way they've kind of rebuilt and they've slowly got stronger and stronger, fresh players coming in in January, which were huge in terms of their impact with [Marc] Guehi and [Antoine] Semenyo, and City just appear to be in a fresher condition mentally, physically.
"Where they're at in their journey as a team, and Arsenal seem to be just in that, you know, dipping for the line, hanging on. Can we get it over the line? So they're two very different places where both groups of players are at, really.
"And I suppose Pep as well, in terms of he's rebuilt that team, hasn't he? So he's now seeing the best of this group of players he's put together over the last 18 months. So it's interesting to see who's going to hold out, whether or not Arsenal can hold it out, or whether City will come strong.
"It's almost like, you know, when you watch like a race in the Velodrome with cyclists, and you see the one in the slipstream behind, you think, 'oh, the guy in the front's won this.' And then the moment they get around the bend and, you know, the forces come in, and he just pips him. It kind of reminds me of that a little bit in these last four games."
While City hold a crucial game in hand over Arsenal to be played against the Gunners next month, their fixture schedule appears increasingly hectic compared to their title rivals. As a consequence of rescheduling brought about by the Carabao Cup and FA Cup commitments, the Sky Blues face three matches within the space of seven days - along with two lengthy away trips within four days.
Following their Premier League clashes with Everton and Brentford on Monday, 4th May and Saturday, 9th May respectively, City face Crystal Palace in a rearranged fixture on Wednesday, 13th May. The club then travel to Wembley to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday, 16th May.
Matthew Upson playing for Arsenal
Matthew Upson played for Arsenal between 1997 and 2003(Image: Birmingham Post and Mail)
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A journey to the south coast to face Bournemouth in the Premier League follows on Tuesday, 19th May, before City round off their campaign against Aston Villa on Sunday, 24th May.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have the following run of fixtures to contend with...
Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal - Wednesday, April 29
Arsenal vs Fulham - Saturday, May 2
Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid - Tuesday, May 5
West Ham vs Arsenal - Sunday, May 10
Arsenal vs Burnley - Monday, May 18
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace - Sunday, May 24
Arsenal/Atletico Madrid vs PSG/Bayern Munich - Saturday, May 30*
* - Dependent on who reaches the Champions League final