Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has claimed that Manchester City's defence are not good enough for the style of football they try to play at the top level. It comes after the Citizens fell to defeat against Liverpool at the weekend in a fiery encounter between the sides.
A huge win over Leeds earlier in the day meant that the Gunners were guaranteed to remain top of the Premier League, however the result at Anfield went, although City's defeat meant the gap extended to four points. While it continues the side's ideal start to the campaign, it will also continue talk around a potential title challenge too.
"I’ll leave that to you guys honestly," Mikel Arteta previously said when asked at which point his team are officially part of the race to win the league.
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While plenty have made the comparison between Arsenal and Manchester City in terms of similarity in style, they do face a similar issue. That is how to deal with being hit on the transition, with both sides often enjoying a larger share of possession but having to snuff out counter attacks with a well set up defence.
The Gunners found this to be a particular issue against Manchester United, but have otherwise dealt fine with their opposition. City on the other hand have dropped points in three games this season, with the Liverpool game an example of how their rest defence wasn't quite right for dealing with the counter attacking threat Liverpool possessed.
It's led to Wright claiming that their defenders aren't good enough, saying on the Two Robbies podcast: "We've seen in the past Pep [Guardiola] tinker around with his team. I personally do not feel that the defence that he's got, which ever two [centre-backs] he puts out, are good enough at the highest level against the highest level to be two-on-two at the back like that.
"I thought you'd see Cancelo coming in and making that mistake [for Mohamed Salah's goal]. In the Champions League you will be punished, we know that they have got Erling Haaland up top now - who will score goals out of nothing and like I say he should've scored today. But defensively, if they leave themselves that bare, they will be punished and we've seen that before."
It remains to be seen just how costly it could be for Guardiola come the end of the season, but it may give Arsenal the hope they need to compete at the top.
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