Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Although Arsenal lack “stardust” in attack, they are still favourites to retain their Premier League title this season.
That is the view of former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher, who feels Manchester City are once again the only team capable of rivalling Mikel Arteta’s men.
Noni Madueke came off the bench to score an 80th-minute winner for the Gunners on Sunday, as they ground out a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Since Arteta became Arsenal manager in December 2019, they have had the joint-most 1-0 wins in the Premier League of any side (32, level with Everton).
They are three points below City in the Premier League table, with Enzo Maresca becoming the first manager in the competition’s history to win his first seven games in charge of a club.
But the Opta supercomputer still makes the Gunners favourites, with 46.9% of season simulations seeing them top the pile, compared to City’s 40.4% chance.
There is also the possibility of City’s chances being affected by any punishment levied against the club after they were found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules, but even without those off-the-pitch issues, Carragher still feels Arsenal are the team to beat.
“We’ve said before that Arsenal are not the most exciting champions we’ve ever seen,” Carragher told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
“They still lack stardust in the final third and didn’t get that superstar over the line that they wanted in the summer.
“There was talk of Vinicius Junior coming in, obviously, and Julian Alvarez, but they didn’t get those deals done. They do lack star power in the final third and we saw more evidence of that on Sunday.
Noni delivers the defining moment https://t.co/c8o1UErdlJ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 19, 2026
“Some people will also say Mikel Arteta has still got the reins on and is stopping them from showing their absolute best going forward, because they value the defence so much.
“But they’ve got the best squad in the country and the best starting lineup. I don’t think anyone can go up against that really, except maybe Man City.
“We said all of this last year as well. They didn’t have a game-changer, but what they had were two top-quality players in every position.
“I still see Arsenal as the team to stop. If they dropped more points on Sunday, they could have been five behind Man City. We obviously don’t know what’s going to happen with City, we have to take it as it is right now.
“Arsenal would have been a bit worried about being five points behind someone like Man City and dropping points in quick succession, but they got the win.”
Arsenal visit Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before welcoming Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. City’s next Premier League game, meanwhile, is a tricky trip to Aston Villa.
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