Arsenal are now the favourites to win this season's Premier League title, according to former Liverpool and Manchester United hero Michael Owen.
The north Londoners led the league for nearly six months before a mini-rut saw them relinquish top spot to Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's side secured a 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. The Gunners then travelled to Villa Park on Saturday morning to take on Aston Villa, who are now managed by former Arsenal boss Unai Emery.
Despite trailing twice, Mikel Arteta's men were able to clinch all three points in a dramatic game that saw the away side net two stoppage-time goals to win 4-2. Meanwhile, City could only draw against Nottingham Forest, a result that means Arsenal are back to the top, two points clear of their rivals with a game in hand as well.
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Reflecting on the weekend's action, ex-England striker Owen has claimed that the Citizens just haven't looked themselves this season, something that puts the Gunners in the driving seat to end their 19-year title drought.
“It’s amazing isn’t it?” he said, via the Mirror. “Because you see [City] sat there on 52 points and it’s a really good total, but you just don’t feel like they’re absolutely purring and at the top of their game this season so far.
“And Arsenal, even though they’ve had a couple of iffy results in recent times, they’re probably sat there confident now. They’ve gained another couple of points on Manchester City – and probably had the harder game.
“However, cast your minds back a month or so and Manchester City would probably snap your hand off only being two points behind now, because that gap was quite big.
“Everyone knows there are going to be so many ups and downs and twists – and nobody is mentioning Manchester United. Because if Manchester City are involved, and obviously Manchester United, if they win their game in hand, they’re only three points behind City, so you cannot rule anything out at the moment.
“But you’d have to say that Arsenal are in the driving seat.”
Similarly, Newcastle icon Alan Shearer has backed the north London outfit to win the league, providing injury luck is on their side.
Asked for his prediction on the title race, Shearer said on BBC’s Match of the Day: "I know Thomas Partey is out injury at the moment, but if Arsenal can get him back and then have a little bit of luck between now and the end of the season with keeping their key players fit, I think they will do it, I really do.
"Based on the second-half, Arsenal deserved the three points today. But they didn’t just get the win, they sent a message out to Manchester City too. Sometimes you just need to find a way to win and they did that in the second-half.
"When you look back at the game against Man City [Arsenal lost 3-1], they made two huge errors and got punished for them. They missed some big chances as well and that was the difference between the teams."
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