Arsenal Invincible makes bold Man City, Liverpool Premier League title claim as Arsene Wenger repeat feared
An Arsenal Invincible has sent a stark Premier League title race warning to the Gunners, insisting that Manchester City and Liverpool are both capable of repeating a tremendous feat that one of Arsene Wenger’s teams achieved.
After deservedly defeating Bayern Munich 3-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, all Arsenal eyes are now on this weekend’s top-of-the-table Premier League clash with Chelsea, who are six points below Mikel Arteta’s men in the Premier League table.
Victory coupled with other results going their way could see Arsenal end the weekend nine points clear at the summit with a third of the season gone, although the Gunners know better than most about overturning points deficits in the Premier League.
Wenger’s 1997-98 team were 12 points behind Manchester United in February, but they incredibly leapfrogged Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to win their first-ever Premier League title, and Ray Parlour was a key part of that side.
The ‘Romford Pele’ has now exclusively told Sports Mole that City and Liverpool are capable of doing the same, saying: “I certainly believe we are one of the best teams in Europe now, but you don’t want to be too confident sometimes.
Ray Parlour: ‘Man City, Liverpool can repeat Arsenal 1998 feat’
© Imago / IPS
“You’ve still got to keep your feet on the ground, and the old cliche, one game at a time. Get the job done, and then the knockout stage is totally different.
“This format we’re playing in the Champions League, you can lose a couple of games. You don’t want to get in the playoffs, it’s another two games which you don’t need.
“Arsenal have done the job, they’re comfortably through to the next stages, they can sit back, relax and concentrate on the league. Man City and Liverpool are dropping points, but Chelsea at the moment are only six points behind. If Chelsea win, then suddenly it’s three and it’s nothing, but nine points is quite a gap.
“We were 12 points behind in 98, we had two games in hand but managed to win 10 in a row, which Man City are capable of doing, probably Liverpool if they can get it right. It’s a mystery what’s happened there, but all they’ve got to do is think about themselves and make sure they put everything into every single game.
“The good thing about it now, the players are coming back, and the bench can change the game sometimes, which is brilliant, not many clubs can do that.”
Is the Premier League title already Arsenal’s to lose?
Few can argue that Arsenal are currently playing the best football in England, and some of the best football in Europe, but to call the Premier League title theirs to lose would be extremely premature.
Chelsea will move to within touching distance of the Gunners with victory in Sunday’s derby, after which it would take just one more bad week for Arteta’s men to potentially lose their grip on top spot in the rankings.
A seven-point lead over Man City is far from unassailable either, and while many Liverpool fans have already written off their chances of retaining their title, just one win – or perhaps a managerial change – could turn their fortunes around too.
No team has clawed back a bigger Premier League points deficit to win the league than the 1997-98 Arsenal crop, but after many years of near misses and painful failures, Gooners should not sit comfortably for a few months yet.
Ray Parlour was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of NetBet Sports Betting.
