Arsenal have been better than us so far, Pep Guardiola is clear. But the statistics and the pundits are in no doubt about the league winner

Manchester City are on a roll this season and nobody has been able to beat them yet. But Pep Guardiola rightly realises that even that hasn’t been enough, as there is one team that has been better so far. That is Arsenal, who face another big test on Sunday.

Guardiola likes quality competition very much. How else would he be getting such great results and breaking records? Lately, he has been competing mainly with Liverpool, but they are in crisis and his role, at least for now, is taken by Arsenal, who dominate the current Premier League table.

Arsenal have recorded only one loss of points in 8 league games, when they fell short to Manchester United. It was Manchester City that made their city rivals impossible, failing to beat Newcastle and Aston Villa, both duels ended in draws.

Thus, currently the Gunners are leading the biggest favourite to win the Premier League by one point. “Every year we have been a little bit better in some way, but so far there have only been eight games,” Guardiola told a news conference.

But in terms of all sorts of statistics, apart from goals scored, Manchester City are the better side. Whether it’s in terms of ball possession (Man. City 64.8% and Arsenal 56.6%), shots per game (Man. City 17.5 and Arsenal 17.3), passing success rate (Man. City 90.4% and Arsenal 85.9%) or xG and other stats.

The bookmakers, for whom the players in the light blue jerseys are the number one candidate for the title, and the English experts, who all agree that it is only a matter of time before Arsenal run out of breath in this uncompromising duel, agree.

In particular, they point out that Mikel Arteta’s charges have so far faced easier opponents, especially at the start of the season. They then extracted 3 points from the matches with the top 6 with a win over Tottenham.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there is one team that was better than us. That’s the reality. Arsenal were a better team than us, we are not at the top of the league, but it is important to be around and fight,” said the Spanish coach with complete confidence.

the 51-year-old Santpedor native is completely at ease, after all, he already has 4 league titles to his credit, and in the last 5 seasons he has not celebrated the Premier League championship only in the 2019/20 season, when the aforementioned Liverpool was happy.

However, those who follow Manchester City and Arsenal matches regularly have no doubt that the clear favourite to win the championship is Guardiola’s bunch, which is really strong, led by Erling Haaland, even compared to previous seasons.

Moreover, Manchester City can take the lead as early as Saturday if they beat Southampton. In fact, Arsenal will welcome Liverpool on Sunday, and with any point loss, it will be the Gunners who will have to try harder.

Source: Whoscored, Goal