‘Everyone will agree with me’: Pep Guardiola makes big claim about Arteta’s Arsenal

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has delivered his verdict on Arsenal ahead of the game at the Emirates on New Year’s Day.

City are on top of the league and are running away. They are eight points clear of second-place Chelsea and are now the undisputed favourites to win the Premier League at the end of this season.

Guardiola, however, isn’t getting carried away. He believes that the title race is still very open and reiterated that his full focus is on City’s next game – against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Speaking about the Gunners, the Spaniard boldly claimed that Mikel Arteta’s side could just be the best Arsenal team over the last six years.

Pep Guardiola: This is the best Arsenal side in six years

The Manchester City boss told Amazon Prime Video last night, as quoted by The Evening Standard: “[There are] fifty-four points to play. So, when you put it in this perspective, eight points (clear at the top of the table) is ridiculous.

“We play on January 1 against, maybe, right now, one of the best teams on top form right now, Arsenal.

“Maybe we get them in their best moment in the last four, five or six years – I’m sure everyone will agree with me.”

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Six years ago, Arsenal had their best season in the Premier League in a long time. They finished second in the 2015/16 season, which is much better than this campaign. That makes Guardiola’s claim a big and bold one.

However, the City manager is right. Arsenal have looked really good over the last few weeks and they are one of the favourites to finish fourth in the league. That looked impossible after these two sides met in August, but Arteta has managed to turn things around and he deserves a lot of credit.

The game on New Year’s Day will be an interesting one, but if recent head-to-head results are anything to go by, City will get the better of the Gunners yet again. That would extend their lead at the top of the table even further, and it may just become too much of a gap for the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea to close down.