Arsenal have been sent a title warning by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after his side's 6-3 thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday. Guardiola's side moved to within a point of the Gunners with victory, closing the gap to the league leaders who have enjoyed an excellent start to life in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta's men have registered seven wins from their opening eight games, with their only defeat coming against Manchester United - a game that could have swung either way. Their latest victory came in the North London Derby on Saturday, winning 3-1 to subject Tottenham to their first defeat of the campaign.
"I’ll leave that to you guys honestly," Arteta said when asked when his team can be declared as part of the title picture. "We just started and we’re really happy with where we are. We understand that you can’t control because emotion is related. The table says what it says and we don’t look at that."
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If the Gunners are to challenge for the title, they will have to overcome the sheer dominance of Manchester City. Guardiola has guided them to four Premier Leagues in the past five-years, with only Liverpool able to break that streak in the middle of that impressive run.
They are once again one of the favourites to win it this season, with the addition of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund making them an even scarier prospect in front of goal. His hat-trick against Manchester United only solidified this, with Guardiola explaining how he is improving him: "What I like in the last period of the game is he is involved. He said 'I prefer to touch the ball five times and score five goals'. I don’t like that, I want him to touch the ball more and more," said Guardiola.
"So he became a football player to score goals. I like that he’s part more for the situations, but don’t forget his biggest talent is to put the ball in the net."
He then went on to claim he has not had an impact in his goal scoring at this stage, making a scary prediction for the Norwegian: "What he has done today, Erling has done in Norway, in Austria and in Germany, that is the reality. He came and realised 'oh, these guys, my mates, run like an animal and I have to do it too'.
"Of course, the quality we have alongside him helps him to score goals. But what he has done, I didn’t teach him once. When the ball is right, and he attacks the box, how he moves behind the central defender away from the action, he has incredible instincts that the ball will arrive there and it comes from his mum and dad, he was born with that and just to help him produce more goals."
It remains to be seen if Arsenal can continue setting the pace in the Premier League, but it may require a lot to beat Manchester City to a fifth title under Guardiola.
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