Gallas makes Arsenal title prediction amid Tottenham worry; Gunners ‘have to beat’ Man City
William Gallas reckons Arsenal “have to” beat Manchester City at the weekend if they want any chance of winning the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw against arch-rivals Tottenham – who are much improved this season under Ange Postecoglou – on September 24, losing ground on Premier League leaders Man City.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men bounced back with a convincing 4-0 victory over Bournemouth last weekend to close the gap on the Citizens to just one point ahead of their meeting at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s side have some injury issues and are coming off a loss to Wolves in their last Premier League match and Gallas reckons it’s a must-win game for Arsenal if they are serious about winning the title.
On whether Arsenal have to beat City to be taken seriously as title contenders, Gallas told Gambling Zone: “There is no choice. If Arsenal want to be taken seriously by Manchester City, if they want to worry City, they have to win. This is a great opportunity for Arsenal. This is a great opportunity to show that they have learned from last season. Last season Arsenal finished second.
“To improve, they have to finish first this season. I don’t think that Arsenal will be champions (this season). I’m not really that worried about Arsenal when they play against the biggest teams – we know they can hurt anyone. The problem is that we have to compare them to last season.
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“They dropped too many points making silly mistakes. From what we’ve seen of Arsenal so far this season, it doesn’t look like they have improved. Last season, they beat Tottenham home and away. They have already dropped two points against Tottenham this season.
“That is why they need to demonstrate they can handle the big occasion, show some balls and beat Manchester City on Sunday. They need to show Manchester City that this season, things will be different.”
Erling Haaland is one of Man City’s danger men with Gallas convinced William Saliba is “better equipped” to deal with the Norwegian’s threat than fellow Arsenal defender Gabriel.
Gallas added: “I think William Saliba would be better equipped at dealing with Erling Haaland if Arsenal were going to look to do something similar (to Wolves) and man-mark Haaland. Saliba can mark him properly.
“Saliba is calmer than Gabriel and, even if Haaland tries to get in his head and intimidate him, Saliba won’t listen. I think sometimes Gabriel is quite an emotional player and he can get nervous.”
And the Frenchman wants Arsenal to show the confidence of champions, Gallas continued: “If you can go out and beat your direct rivals, it gives you the confidence. You start to think that nobody can beat you, but it also starts to make your opponent scared of you. You know that you’re good enough to beat any team after a win like that.
“The question is: do Arsenal have that confidence? It’s very easy to say they have it, but now they must show it. I want to see Arsenal showing this confidence. I want to see Arsenal show it, not just in this game, but in one month, in two months. When they get to the top, they need to stay there.”
