Former Liverpool player and popular pundit Graeme Souness believes Manchester City hold a psychological advantage over Arsenal in this season’s Premier League title battle. He says City’s years of success have built a strong belief in themselves that Arsenal have yet to develop.
Arsenal, who have not won the league since 2004, currently lead the table after 16 matches but have shown some shaky form recently, including a loss to Aston Villa and a late win against Wolves. Manchester City, meanwhile, are gaining momentum with four straight league wins and are just two points behind Arsenal.
Souness said that City’s confidence comes from their history of winning. “When you’ve won the title and you’ve won a title a few times, you have unbelievable belief in yourself and the players you’re sitting in the dressing room with,” he said.
He pointed out that Arsenal lack this belief, saying, “Arsenal have not got that. City have got that. Villa have not got that. So, City will be full of confidence.”
Souness added that City’s mindset is ruthless: “They’ll be thinking, ‘We’ll win this. Someone will bottle it. We’ll beat Arsenal when we play them, we’ll beat Villa when we play them again, and we’ll win the league’.”
In contrast, Arsenal might be thinking, “We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Let’s make sure we don’t bottle it this time.”
He also commented on Aston Villa, who are third in the table, saying their challenge is less predictable but noted concerns about their attack, especially striker Ollie Watkins, who has not been a regular starter.
Souness concluded by emphasizing the importance of goal-scoring, saying, “So goalscoring is the most important thing you can have at a football club, and that’s why strikers cost so much money.”
Leave a comment