Former Arsenal and Manchester City full back Bacary Sagna doesn’t think Tottenham have what it takes to go the distance in the Premier League title race, but that Arsenal will have learned the lessons of last season. Heading into the international break the old north London foes are tied at the top of the table on 20 points and both are yet to lose this term.
Arsenal came a close second to Manchester City last season while Spurs look a team reborn under Ange Postecoglou after the drab tenures of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Nuno Espírito Santo. As good as they’ve been, Sagna is adamant Arsenal’s superior squad and title-challenging experience gives them the edge over Tottenham.
Spurs will collapse in the title race – as usual
The title race will be between Arsenal and Manchester City, Spurs will collapse, as usual. And that’s not just me speaking as an Arsenal fan. I don’t see them being consistent enough all season.
Apart from Son Heung-min, I don’t see anyone in that team that can lead the team or play a vital role in Spurs’ title race. I have respect for the players, and they play good football under a good coach, but the season is very long and I don’t see them competing on a long-term basis.
They started well, and they can qualify for the Champions League, but I don’t see them competing for the title.
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Arsenal have learned and can compete for the title
Arsenal can be a contender to win the league after defeating Manchester City, who have already lost twice this season. It was a decisive game where they lost points directly to an opponent.
Arsenal showed that they’ve learned their lesson from recent years as they were very patient, composed and focused and the whole team defended very well. Offensively, they just waited for the right time, and they knew that they’d have a chance at the end of the game to win it and that’s what they did perfectly.
They were patient enough to defend for 75 minutes and all the substitutions that Mikel Arteta made combined for their goal. Takehiro Tomiyasu headed it down for Kai Havertz who laid it back to Martinelli for the goal – it was the perfect execution of Arteta’s game plan.
Both coaches know each other very well and how their teams move on the pitch, where they close space and how they play out from the back. When you have two coaches who have the same philosophy, it always provides this type of game. It wasn’t a particularly good game and the team that made half a mistake ended up losing.
Saliba is Arsenal’s most important player
William Saliba is very young but very talented. When he first came to England, he had a lot of criticism, and he was really smart to accept a loan move and go away and work harder.
Many players would’ve said no but he was smart to realise that he had to play to get better and how much he had to work to get to the level where he could play for Arsenal. He’s wise and we need to highlight this.
Going to Marseille, a huge club in France, where he faced lots of pressure was good preparation for what he would face in England. I’m not surprised to see how well he’s performing because he did amazingly with Saint-Étienne before, he was Marseille’s best player and now, he’s Arsenal’s most important player.
I’m sure that if he didn’t get injured last season, Arsenal would have been champions. He’s a rock, he’s composed and he’s vital to Arsenal. The way he held up Erling Haaland on the weekend was amazing.
Martinelli also vital to Arsenal
Martinelli is very direct – I like the way he plays. When he’s on the ball, he has a clear idea of how he’s going to attack – that is why he’s been so vital to Arsenal.
We know how direct he can be, we know he’s creative and can score goals. He’s constantly dangerous and can go down the line, or cut inside, it doesn’t matter because he’s so positive whenever he’s on the ball.
Mikel Arteta knew after the first half [against City] that he had to bring something new, and we know how good Martinelli is and how important he is for Arsenal. Apart from Bukayo Saka, Martinelli creates the most chances in this Arsenal side.
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