Arsenal won’t ‘win the PL title’ as ex-Liverpool star reveals ‘caveat’ with one factor to ‘decide’ race | OneFootball

A former Liverpool star has stuck to his guns and argued why he cannot see Arsenal winning the Premier League title this season.

Arsenal have had a perfect couple of months, going on a sensational run since losing to Liverpool at the end of August. They have won nine and drawn one of their next ten games in all competitions.

This stunning run of form has seen Mikel Arteta‘s side move four points clear at the top of the Premier League, with high-flyers AFC Bournemouth currently their nearest challengers.

It already feels like it would take an almighty cock-up for Arsenal not to win the Premier League this season as they have the most complete squad in the division, while Liverpool and Man City are far from their best.

However, former Liverpool and Man City star David James is of the mindset that Arsenal will not win the league this season, even though they have “improved in so many different areas”.

“I’d be foolish to say, no, I haven’t changed my mind about Arsenal with them at the top of the table,” James told The Metro (via AskGamblers).

“There’s something about Arsenal I really like. I like the numbers. They’ve improved in so many different areas. In the past, if they conceded, it was a weird stat for the majority of last season, that they would not score in the second-half if they conceded in the first-half.

“It was a really weird stat, and I just questioned what was going on in the changing room. Now that’s changed to the point that they’ve even come back from losing positions at half-time to win games.

“You look at the Man City game where they were losing 1-0 early on, and they, if it had not been for some ridiculously good defending, would have won that game at the Emirates. So there are improvements there.

“I guess people might look at the Fulham game and think, well, actually, you’ve got the best opportunities here, and it’s still not quite what I expect for a side who seemingly are in a wonderful position.”

James has also raised a “caveat” that could derail Arsenal’s title push, while one factor should “decide” the run-in.

“The test for them, as I’m sure many people will say, is now that they’re top of the table, how are they going to handle that?” James continued.

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“There’s another caveat to this because last season they played 14 Champions League games which meant they played 14 Premier League games before those fixtures and they only won four and it appeared that there was a definite focus on the Champions League.

“Maybe that was because Liverpool started to run away with the title race quite early, but there seemed to be a lot of emphasis on the Champions League more so than the Premier League, especially towards the end of the season where there was a chance of obviously getting to the final.

“Now it’s how Mikel Arteta handles the balance of the Champions League and the Premier League, especially when you’re leading the Premier League.

“I don’t think Arsenal will win the title if that’s an answer, even if they’ve started well.

“I think the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool will go into the last weeks of the season, if not the last game of the season, and possibly decide the title race.

“But it will be interesting with Arteta to see how he handles qualification for the Champions League and maintain that top position in the Premier League, and I don’t think they’ll be able to do it.”