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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has named Arsenal as his Premier League title favorites over reigning champions Manchester City after both teams slumped to respective defeats over the weekend.
Arsenal were handed their second loss of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign on Saturday (February 4) during their trip to Goodison Park. Everton, who are in 18th place, registered a surprise 1-0 victory over the league leaders to hand new manager Sean Dyche a dream start.
Manchester City, on the other hand, failed to close the five-point gap at the top as Tottenham Hotspur emerged victorious 1-0 against them on Sunday (February 5). Harry Kane's 15th-minute opener in front of his home crowd proved to be the difference against Pep Guardiola's side.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher shared his thoughts on Manchester City's sub-par title push in the Premier League so far. He elaborated:
"There's still a long way to go for the title but you're almost waiting for Manchester City to kick in and to be the City we know so well. It just feels like this might be the season where they're not quite themselves, for lots of different reasons. It's not the City of old."
Claiming that the Cityzens are underperforming, Carragher continued:
"This idea that they're going to do what they've done to Liverpool a couple of times in the title race, I'm not sure it will happen. It feels like a different City we're watching right now. There's so long to go. Neither team should panic. There will be a lot of ups and downs."
Backing Arsenal to lift the famed trophy at the end, Carragher added:
"But I do think Arsenal have the edge, because they've been the most impressive team so far. We're still waiting to see the real City but it's not quite happening for them. The upcoming two games between those teams are massive but I fancy Gunners right now."
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola opines on missed chance after Arsenal's PL defeat
During a post-match press conference, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was asked for his opinion on his team's failure to seize a golden opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table. He replied:
"It is football. They dropped points and there was a good opportunity for us but we knew how difficult it was in this stadium."
Both teams are yet to take on each other in the Premier League this season. While the Gunners will host Pep Guardiola's side on February 15, the reigning champions will host the league leaders on April 26.
