Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has ruled out Arsenal from the Premier League title race this season, citing three potential stumbling blocks on their fixture list.
According to Murphy, despite the Gunners’ impressive home victories over Man City and Liverpool this season, away games against Tottenham and Manchester United, along with their upcoming trip to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton, may derail Mikel Arteta’s team’s challenge.
The Gunners currently sit in second place in the league, trailing just behind Liverpool by two points and leading Manchester City by one. All three contenders have eight matches remaining and are involved in European competitions, with only City set to be affected by FA Cup commitments.
Taking on the Seagulls could push Arsenal to the top of the league before Liverpool face off against Manchester United. Regardless of the situation, Murphy is enthusiastic about the mounting pressure on City.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy shared his thoughts: “This is what we want from a Premier League title race. Unless you’re a Man City fan you probably want someone else to win it.
“I wanted Arsenal to win it last year, for example. It’s not that I don’t admire Man City, of course I do, it’s a phenomenal team with a great manager. But we need that competition in the Premier League and this is turning into a real ding-dong.
“I don’t think Arsenal will get over the line, just because of the fixtures. They’ve got to go to Tottenham, Old Trafford and Brighton.”
Manager Arteta has already acknowledged the significance of these matches but emphasised the importance of Arsenal’s home games as well.Yes, but at home as well,” he said. “We have the Champions League games and we have some big games at home, so every game in this league is extremely difficult.
“You look at last night [Thursday] what happened again and everybody is just suffering to win because the level is so high and we’re going to have a really tough opponent again in Brighton. We know that, so we’ll prepare well and try to be better than them and try to win.”
