Arsenal have drawn their Premier League matches against title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool and Paul Scholes says they are yet to prove they have the mentality to lift the trophy
Arsenal need to pick up a statement win against Manchester City or Liverpool to prove their Premier League title-winning credentials.
That is according to Paul Scholes, who still has some serious reservations about Mikel Arteta’s side as they try to end City’s dominance. The Gunners have fallen narrowly short in the past two seasons, with City finishing two points clear in 2023/24 to make it four straight Premier League titles.
Arsenal are currently third, five points behind City and four adrift of Liverpool, following their 2-2 draw with Arne Slot ’s side on Sunday. They also drew 2-2 with City in September and Scholes thinks Arteta needs to find a way to grind out victories against their closest rivals if they are to win a first title for 20 years.
“Arsenal have got to do better in the big games. At some point, they’ve got to beat Liverpool. If you want to go and win the league, you need to beat your big rivals – they’re big points and big games,” the former Manchester United midfielder said on The Overlap Fan Debate from Sky Bet.
“I keep going back to that game last year at Manchester City where Arsenal had a great chance at winning the league, City had some players missing, and they were so happy with a draw. That’s a mentality that needs to change.
“I know he had issues with players suspended and injured on Sunday, so he ( Mikel Arteta ) probably thought it was a fair result but at some point, you’ve got to have the mentality to beat these teams. You can win the league without beating the teams around you, but we always felt that going to Liverpool in March, if you won that game, it was massive – going to Chelsea and Arsenal winning games, it was so big.
“I don’t think Arsenal have proved that they can do that, but I think Liverpool can. There is no proof of that yet against this brilliant City team, but out of the two teams, Liverpool are the ones more capable of doing it than Arsenal.”
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Arsenal held a 2-1 lead at half-time against Liverpool thanks to Mikel Merino’s goal, but couldn’t hold onto it. Mohamed Salah equalised on the counter-attack, earning Liverpool a valuable point and denting the Gunners’ chances to win the title.
“It was a game of two halves – Arsenal were good in the first half and Liverpool came out a lot better in the second,” Scholes added. “I wanted it to be a game that showed me that someone could beat Manchester City and give them a right run to win the league, and I wasn’t convinced by either. Both teams will get better. I still think Liverpool are the team out of those two teams that could get the closest to Man City.”
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