Arsenal will fall victim to the Premier League’s ‘mentally draining’ run-in with Manchester City remaining rampant in their efforts to finish the season at the top of the table.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who believes Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will come up desperately short in their bid to lift their first title since 2004, despite leading the table for the majority of the season.
“I don’t care what club you are, what players you have, who your manager is or how good of a position you’re in, to come through the league’s run-in unscathed is near impossible – it is just so mentally draining. It’s a real big challenge,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“What the Arsenal squad are finding out now is that they’ve gone from playing their way and winning their games to ‘we HAVE to win this game!’ – When you add that level of pressure to players getting physically tired because the season is ending, the task is made even harder.”
Arsenal have recently discovered how hard it has become to see out games. The Gunners’ last two matches against Liverpool and West Ham United saw the side put in two near-identical performances. Starting both games well, Arsenal were able to race to a 2-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing the opposition back into the game with both results ending in a 2-2 draw.
Consequently, after Arsenal dropped four points from their last two games, according to OptaStats, there is now a 65% probability that Manchester City will go on to lift their seventh Premier League title.
1 – The probability of winning the Premier League this season based on our prediction model:
Now:
65.6%- Manchester City
34.4% – ArsenalOn Friday:
53.1% – Manchester City
46.9% – ArsenalWidening. pic.twitter.com/n8FhvAa7FG
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 16, 2023
And Collymore believes the Cityzens’ vast title-winning experience will prove to be the difference come the end of May.
“For a team gunning for that title to come up against a lower-placed team, especially during the run-in, doesn’t automatically guarantee three points,” the ex-pro added.
“Almost every team is motivated to achieve their goals, whether that be to avoid relegation, qualify for Europe or record their best-ever finish – nearly every side Arsenal will come up against between now and the end of May will have their own reasons to put in a performance and the Gunners’ squad doesn’t have experience of managing those situations. Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko are title winners, but I would argue that neither were instrumental in Manchester City’s success – they were both bit-part squad players. The rest of Arsenal’s team is relatively inexperienced in what is required to get over the line and I think that’s why Manchester City will go on from here to lift the title.”
Who do you think will win the Premier League title; will Arsenal be able to hold on, or will Manchester City get the better of them? – Let us know your end-of-season predictions in the comments below.
His prediction is his prediction . The title is still in Arsenal hand. Get a draw in Man City is not out of the question .
And city dropping points somewhere is a possibility.
People should remember that the EPL started same day for all teams