Can Mikel Arteta end Arsenal’s 20-year wait for a Premier League title? (Photo: Getty)
David Seaman has warned Arsenal they must not lose focus even when playing against ‘easier’ teams or their Premier League title bid will collapse just like last season.
With nine games to go, the title race remain as tight as ever with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City separated by just three points.
Following the goalless draw between the Gunners and the Citizens last Sunday, the Reds are now considered to be the favourites for the trophy, but anything can happen in the remaining fixtures.
Arsenal legend Seaman is backing his side to triumph for the first time in 20 years, saying on the Seaman Says podcast, sponsored by Parimatch: ‘I think the top three in order will be Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City. Nobody’s even mentioning Arsenal as favourites for the title, and I like that.
‘I loved Arsenal’s performance against Man City on Sunday – I really, really enjoyed it. It was a proper defensive display. I would have taken a draw before the game.
‘You’ve got to play effective football, which Arsenal did. With George Graham, we would play long ball football all the time. We would get criticised for it, but it was effective and we won. We won leagues, we won cups.’
At this stage last season, Mikel Arteta’s side were looking good to win the title but a run of just three wins from their last nine games saw City overtake them.
Arsenal are battling Liverpool and Man City for the title (Photo: Getty)
That run began with and was underpinned with draws against lowly West Ham and Southampton, and Seaman is more concerned that these sort of games could trip them up again.
The former goalkeeper added: ‘This is a different Arsenal team from last season.
‘They’ve learned from what happened last season and then they’ve had the additions of the likes of Declan Rice and Kai Havertz, so they’re in a much better place. I was much more confident going into this Man City game than I was last season!
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‘Arsenal have now taken four points off Liverpool and Man City so they’ve got to be pretty happy with that. When you look at the run-ins, Arsenal have got Spurs away and Man United away, so there’s a few big games coming up for them.
‘My only little worry is what happened to Arsenal last season when they had a couple of games at home where they were expected to win, like against Southampton. There were a few really dodgy results there.
‘For now, Arsenal just need to keep that focus on following the Man City game to avoid those results. They’ve got Luton coming up next, so they really need to win that comfortably to make a statement, especially with Bayern Munich coming up. They’ve got to keep their focus for those kinds of fixtures.’
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