With Liverpool perhaps being the favourites to win the Premier League title after finishing first last season and having an excellent summer window, whether Manchester City or Arsenal are best placed to knock them off their pedestal remains to be seen.
Based on the first round of Premier League fixtures, Pep Guardiola and Co seem the more likely candidates to push Arne Slot’s side to the wire after their emphatic 4-0 victory against Wolves.
With Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki impressing Pep Guardiola from the get-go as well, City already look like a much more dangerous outfit than last season.
While Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 as well, their performance was far from convincing as Ruben Amorim’s side were perhaps the more dominant side out of the two.
Jamie Carragher says Man City will be Liverpool’s closest title rivals, not Arsenal
On Sky Sports’ show, Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher predicted Liverpool to win the league.
With Pep Guardiola looking to win the Premier League title, he would likely be hungry to prove the pundit wrong this season.
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However, Jamie Carragher has changed his mind and backed his Manchester City side to be Liverpool’s closest title challengers instead of Arsenal despite recently tipping them to do so recently, explaining: “A few days ago, I thought Arsenal would be Liverpool’s biggest challengers. But the way they played [at Old Trafford] was typical Arsenal of last season — the name of the game is winning games — it will be interesting over the next few weeks if we see them open up more, create more chances and see how they’ve evolved from last season.”
Pep Guardiola hugging Pep Lijnders during Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
“I was really impressed with Manchester City and I think it’s Manchester City who might be Liverpool’s closest challengers.”
People close to Pep Guardiola have an ominous message for Arsenal
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side would be hoping to stun Jamie Carragher and win the league by usurping Liverpool and leave Arsenal in the dust. Last season, the Reds won the league by a landslide and both their title rivals barely pushed them throughout the campaign.
People close to Guardiola believe he is motivated behind the scenes.
For Mikel Arteta, the prospect of the Catalan being fired up is ominous, considering he has already masterminded his City side to beat the Gunners to two titles. Furthermore, Arteta has worked with Pep Guardiola and he knows more than most how much of a serial winner he is.
Manchester City have started the season on fire and it looks like they are out for blood this season.