Before the final game week of Premier League action got underway, five points was the gap between Manchester City in second and Newcastle United in third, with Arsenal leading City by two points. Granted, the league season is not even halfway complete, but there seems to be two clear title challengers emerging.
Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola are the two managers who have guided their respective teams to 10 or more Premier League wins with Arsenal on 11 and City on 10, placing a significant gap between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack.
Many are still considering City as the favourites, due to their familiarity of being at the top and winning the league for the last two seasons, but Arteta has quietly built a frightening young squad who could certainly prevent a third successive reign for City. However, a 2-1 defeat at home to Brentford has thrown a spanner in the works for Guardiola's side.
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Along with Newcastle, Fulham and Bournemouth, Arsenal have gone beyond what anyone expected of them this season and despite the impressive displays shown by the three aforementioned teams, Peter Crouch believes the best turnaround has been in north London.
Speaking on BT Sport, Crouch said: "Last year Arteta was getting a lot of stick from his own supporters but they’ve strengthened in right areas solid defensively and they’ve definitely exceeded all expectations."
It's very unlikely many would have predicted Arsenal to be in this position at the start of August even after their impressive opening day win against Crystal Palace and while they do sit top of the league, City are still the outright favourites.
Ahead of City's final match against Brentford before the six-week pause, BT Sport ran a poll asking viewers to vote who they think is going to win the Premier League title, with Arsenal receiving 25% of the votes with the rest going to City.
Speaking on BT Sport, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand also offered his thoughts on the title picture.
He said: "The depth of their (Man City) squad is the definite separator, I just think they’ll pull away in the second half of the season."
Especially with the mid-season World Cup, there is no guarantee Arsenal return on Boxing Day playing at the same velocity they showed in the first half of the season, which makes their transfer activity in January very important.
City's depth is best showcased in attack with Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez all having to settle for a place on the bench for their Premier League match with Brentford on Saturday and that is where the Gunners will have to improve.
Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk has been closely-linked with Arsenal for a number of months, while Villareal's Samuel Chukwueze is also said to be an option for the Gunners. Both moves could be more likely in the summer, but if Arsenal want to push City all the way, attacking acquisitions in January will be paramount, especially because of the gap in quality that would be evident if any of Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard or Bukayo Saka were to suffer a long-term injury.
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