Five reasons why Arsenal will fail to win the Premier League

This season, Arsenal has been performing exceptionally well under the leadership of Mikel Arteta. Their squad has become one of the most thrilling in Europe, all while adhering to their core values, which is admirable. Despite this, they are not quite ready to win the Premier League, as evidenced by their recent 2-2 draw against Liverpool, in which they allowed a two-goal lead to slip away. They were lucky to leave Anfield with a single point.

Although they have a six-point lead over Manchester City, with one more game played, they are not yet in the clear, with a challenging visit to the Etihad Stadium on the horizon. During the latter half of Arsene Wenger's tenure, Arsenal struggled mentally. Arteta deserves recognition for breaking this pattern, but his team is now in unknown territory. Manchester City is familiar with the pressure of achieving crucial results, and they are relentless in pursuing a fifth title in six years. Arsenal will eventually fall to Pep Guardiola's squad, and Betimate has analyzed the primary reasons why.

Lack of experience

The City team is filled with players who have a proven track record of winning. Players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, and John Stones have all tasted victory before. These players know how to raise their game and are motivated to set new records while continuing to dominate English football.

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Arsenal has two former City players, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who share the same winning mentality. They played a vital role in helping Arsenal compete for the Premier League title. However, the rest of the Arsenal squad lacks experience at this level. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard are the team's standout performers, but they are fueled purely by adrenaline.

The rest of the Arsenal squad lacks experience at this level

"We don't know how to handle it because not many of us have been here before," admitted Arsenal's goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after their 4-0 win over Everton last month. "So we're just playing the games like we're in 10th or 12th place. We're going out to play with our teammates and try to win as many games as possible."

This naivety was apparent at Anfield when Arsenal failed to close out a win after an excellent first-half display that outclassed Liverpool. We can expect more of the same from Arsenal in the coming weeks.

The Haaland factor

Martinelli, a Brazilian winger, has become Arsenal's top scorer of the season in the Premier League with an impressive tally of 14 goals, which is his career-best record. Meanwhile, Saka has scored 13 goals and Odegaard has 10. Jesus could have also been in double figures, but he was unable to play for three months due to a knee injury he sustained after the World Cup.

Despite this, none of them come close to the scoring prowess of Erling Haaland. In City's recent match against Southampton, Haaland scored his 29th and 30th Premier League goals of the season, bringing his overall tally to 44 goals across all competitions. This achievement matches the record held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah for the most goals scored by a player in a single campaign for an English club.

Haaland scored his 29th and 30th Premier League goals of the season

Haaland is expected to break Salah's record of 34 goals in a single Premier League season and could even surpass the 50-goal mark by the end of his debut year at Etihad Stadium. His incredible form makes him the most lethal striker in the world and gives City an advantage in any game. Guardiola, City's manager, praised Haaland by saying he is on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of the best footballers of the last two decades. It is highly unlikely that City will miss out on the title with a player like Haaland on their team.

Hot-headed Xhaka

In the Sky Sports studio, Manchester United legend Roy Keane succinctly explained why Granit Xhaka's angry outburst at Anfield ended up costing Arsenal all three points against Liverpool. Despite being in complete control of the match with a 2-0 lead, Xhaka decided to square up to Trent Alexander-Arnold after failing to win a foul. He used his elbow and headbutted the Reds full-back, resulting in both players being shown yellow cards and the Anfield crowd becoming energized.

Xhaka decided to square up to Trent Alexander-Arnold after failing to win a foul

Shortly after, Salah scored to halve the deficit, and Liverpool eventually secured a hard-earned point. Xhaka's contribution to Arsenal's season has been significant, but he is still prone to moments of irrationality like this. His lack of composure let his teammates down, and it is doubtful that he will learn from his mistake.

While Xhaka has always played on the edge, which is why he is excellent in the midfield, he has yet to master controlling his temper. On Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher also criticized Xhaka's behavior, saying that it was "absolutely daft" and going "back to the old Xhaka."

Guardiola is still the master

Arteta spent three years honing his coaching skills alongside some of the best in the business at Etihad Stadium. As an assistant to Guardiola, the Spaniard absorbed as much knowledge as possible before venturing out on his own at Arsenal in 2019. Although he did not achieve instant success as Guardiola did with Barcelona in 2008-2009, the Gunners' patience has paid off.

In October, Guardiola downplayed his influence on Arteta's career, stating that he may have learned more from Arteta than the other way around. However, the truth is that Guardiola remains the master and Arteta has a long way to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath.

Guardiola remains the master and Arteta has a long way to go

Evidence of this was apparent during City's 3-1 win over Arsenal on February 13, as Arteta appeared frantic on the touchline while Guardiola remained calm. After Arsenal edged the first half, Guardiola made a tactical tweak by reverting to a flat back four and bringing on Manuel Akanji for Riyad Mahrez. This allowed City to gain full control of the game, overwhelming Arsenal with their attacking power in the second half.

Guardiola's impressive domestic record is built on victories like this, and his in-game management is as shrewd as ever. Arteta will have the chance to face his former mentor on April 26 in Manchester, but Guardiola will be prepared for whatever Arteta throws at him, making City the clear favorite once again.

Tougher run-in

Aside from their upcoming match against Arsenal, Manchester City still has some challenging fixtures to come, including away games against Fulham, Brentford, and Brighton. However, it would not be surprising if they manage to win all of their remaining games until the end of the season. Manchester City has done it before and has the squad depth to handle their Champions League and FA Cup commitments, in addition to their title challenge, without any problems.

On the other hand, Arsenal only has the league to focus on, which puts more pressure on them. Their next match is a London derby against West Ham, who are currently in the relegation zone before they welcome bottom-of-the-table Southampton to the Emirates. Arteta's team must win both of these games before they face Manchester City, and they need a positive result at the Etihad Stadium to set them up for the three fixtures that could define their season.

Arteta's team must win games before they face Manchester City

Arsenal will host Chelsea at the end of April before taking on Newcastle, who are fighting for a Champions League spot, at St James' Park. They will then face Brighton at home, and Roberto De Zerbi's side is still in with an outside chance of a top-four finish. A subsequent trip to Nottingham Forest could also prove to be a potential stumbling block. Arsenal will wrap up their campaign at home to Wolves, who are looking like a well-organized team again under Julen Lopetegui.

If Arsenal can remain on top after that tough run of games, they will undoubtedly be deserving champions. However, it seems inevitable that they will be edged out by a Manchester City team that is simply better equipped to finish the job.

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