Both Manchester City and Arsenal have struggled recently, but in some ways Pep Guardiola has more reason to be optimistic than Mikel Arteta at the moment.
Despite losing 1-4 to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, Guardiola is still confident in the team's comeback. In fact, Man City often have a habit of accelerating strongly in the sprint phase. Therefore, it would not be surprising if The Citizens won the Premier League or the Champions League, or even both.
But can Arsenal end their 21-year wait for a Premier League title? It's been a long time since Arsene Wenger led the Gunners to an unbeaten Premier League campaign. And in fact, even Arsenal fans are raising doubts.
Closing the gap of 5 points with Man City is one thing, but closing the gap of 7 points with Liverpool is another. If they do not improve their performance soon, the "Gunners" could be completely abandoned in the championship race.
Arsenal's attacking problems have been getting worse since the start of the season. They failed to score against Bournemouth and Newcastle in the Premier League, and were helpless against Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Three defeats in six games is not a full-blown crisis, but Arteta must be careful before it is too late. His position is safe but his decisions seem to be going in the wrong direction. That includes a lack of urgency to sign a real striker.
Kai Havertz has proven that he is not a flop for Arsenal. But at the end of the day, they still lack a striker who can strike fear into opposing defenses like Erling Haaland or Mohamed Salah. Havertz is not that type of player.
Given the Gunners' all-out Premier League ambitions, it's hard to see why they've overlooked their attack. In the summer of 2024, Victor Osimhen moved to Galatasaray, Alexander Isak stayed at Newcastle and Ivan Toney joined the Saudi Pro League. Arsenal were strongly linked with all of these names but ultimately remained silent.
Raheem Sterling has had a fantastic career and has struck up a good partnership with Gabriel Martinelli on the left, but his only goal for Arsenal so far has come in the Carabao Cup against Bolton.
In a title race, match-winning goals can make a huge difference, but Arsenal have lacked that edge in their last three defeats as possession alone has proved insufficient.
