“ The combination of strength and creativity is enormous in midfield so I do think they are the strongest one,” Louis Saha said as he backed Manchester City over Arsenal in the Premier League title race. His view comes after City entered the international break with a three-point lead, while Arsenal were knocked off course by a 3-0 defeat to Brighton.
City’s case to Saha
Saha told goal.com that City have learned from last season’s mistakes and still carry experience, even with younger players coming through. He also pointed to the bench, saying, “On the bench as well because Jeremy Doku is coming back, it’s frightening.”
That sits alongside the way City have been playing. They beat Sunderland 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium, with Brian Brobbey scoring a hat-trick for Sunderland and Erling Haaland continuing to give City a reliable outlet. Haaland has scored 4 Premier League goals in 364 minutes this season.
Why Arsenal’s Brighton loss changed the tone
Arsenal’s defeat at the Amex Stadium gave the debate a new edge. Mikel Arteta called it “a very disappointing result and performance,” and said Brighton were “another gear from us in the basics of the game.”
He added that Arsenal were “extremely poor technically” when playing out in their own half and that they failed to take big chances. For Saha, that was enough to tip the balance towards City, whose midfield control and depth look stronger right now.
City still have caveats around them, especially in a table row that does not mirror the title-race talk around the club. Even so, the combination of five straight league wins, a three-point lead and the return of Jeremy Doku to the bench picture makes Saha’s view hard to dismiss.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
