Manchester City are not quite behind the eight ball, but they do have some work to do to defend their Premier League title. Pep Guardiola's side enter the World Cup break five points behind leaders Arsenal. It is far from an insurmountable lead, as recent seasons have shown, but the manner of City's most recent result left a bitter taste in the mouth.
They were hit with a sucker punch by Brentford, who escaped from the Etihad with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon. Later in the day Mikel Arteta's side recorded a professional win over Wolves to extend the buffer over the reigning champions even further.
Gary Neville, the former Manchester United defender-turned-pundit, has lavished plenty of praise on Arsenal but he still backs City to come out on top - although perhaps not by as big a margin as first predicted.
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Neville wrote on Sky Sports ' website: "They've (Arsenal) been fantastic, they are the class act of this first 14 games. We want a title race, we want there to be competitiveness in the Premier League and not for one team to run away with it every single season. At this moment in time, Arsenal are putting up a real fight. They're the best team in the league in the first 14 games of the season by a mile.
"I still think there's an element of they've still got to prove themselves. I will say it time and time again until they show me differently.
"But what they're demonstrating at this moment in time is that they're the best team in the league, the most consistent team in the league, and from where they were at the end of last season - well done to Mikel Arteta, it's a brilliant job that he's done.
"However, I said last week that I thought Manchester City would win the title by 15 points - and I'm going to hang in there with that prediction. But Arsenal are making me doubt that."
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