Manchester City find themselves in another race to win the Premier League title.
The previous season saw City become the first side to win four consecutive league trophies.
Over the two previous campaigns, Pep Guardiola’s outfit have been battling with Arsenal for the title, with the Gunners finishing second behind the Manchester club two seasons in a row.
With eight league matches played in this latest campaign, City are three points above the North London club in the table and one below Liverpool at the top.
Specifically, the Citizens have won six and drawn twice, making them the only unbeaten side in the league.
Like most teams in the league this season, including City, Arsenal have some injury issues at the moment.
On that subject, one pundit has highlighted a particular issue that Mikel Arteta’s side have that City have shown in previous years hasn’t been a problem for them.
Danny Murphy says Arsenal’s fringe players can’t match City
In a recent video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, Danny Murphy gave this assessment about Arsenal’s recent run of form and what could separate them from City this season.
“The reality is when Man City spend half a season without [Erling] Haaland and [Kevin] De Bruyne, they still win the league.
“And that’s what everybody else is competing with because when Haaland doesn’t play for three months City still win every game.
“And when De Bruyne is missing for half a season they put Bernardo Silva in, they put [Ilkay] Gundogan in, they put [Phil] Foden in that position. They put whoever in and they keep producing.
“Foden became the main man last year because De Bruyne wasn’t there.
“Arsenal need someone else to step up. I mean if [Martin] Odegaard and [Bukayo] Saka are out for too long then that might be a problem.”
Jamie Carragher has highlighted another big Arsenal problem
Murphy isn’t the only former Liverpool player to expose another issue Arteta’s side have, as Jamie Carragher said this about the number of red cards Arsenal have been given so far this season.
He said: “To get three red cards in the first eight games of the season is really poor. They may feel a little bit hard done by on certain issues, but when I look at all the situations, they’re deserved red cards. I don’t think they could really argue too much, and it’s cost them.
“You think of the positions they found themselves in. They were beating Brighton at home when the red card comes, they were beating Manchester City away when the red card comes, and it was level at Bournemouth.
“So they’ve dropped points in all the games from the situation that they found themselves in, 11 v 11. It’s a huge problem.”
“This has got to stop. You’re talking about a team in Manchester City that are already three points ahead [of Arsenal] – you can’t afford to let someone like that get away from you.”
With the Blues only snatching a draw against the Gunners in their clash at the Etihad Stadium back in September, they will know just how much of a tough side they are.
Even though Murphy thinks Arsenal may struggle to replace some of their key players in a way that City have previously shown hasn’t been a problem for them, the Manchester club should still expect to see Arteta’s side in the mix for the title as the season progresses.
