Olaleye Idowu
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has said there is ‘no chance’ of Arsenal winning the Premier League this season.
Scholes pointed out that the Gunners are failing to perform in some of the big games they are expected to win. He said that Mikel Arteta’s side must start turning up in ‘big games’.
Despite their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend, the Gunners remain two points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Leandro Trossard equalised for the Gunners in the second half to cancel out Matty Cash’s first-half opener, but Villa ensured they kept all three points at Villa Park with Emiliano Buendia’s strike in the last minute of the game.
Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-0 a few hours later, but many pundits still see Arsenal as favourites to win the title.
However, Scholes said that Arteta’s side needs to start winning ‘the big games’ if they are going to lift the Premier League trophy.
“Man City have a great chance now, don’t they?” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
“I still don’t think they’re quite right, but they always get better in the second half of the season, and the thing with Arsenal is they can’t win a big game.
“Until they [Arsenal] start winning big games, they’ve got no chance of winning the league.”
The eleven-time Premier League title winner highlighted some important games the Gunners have failed to win, including a defeat to Liverpool, their failure to beat Man City at home when they were struggling, and another defeat to Aston Villa.
“Arsenal just can’t win big games,” he added, also mentioning Mikel Arteta’s side’s failure to beat ten-man Chelsea. Scholes maintained that any team hoping to win the Premier League must be strong enough to beat big teams and rivals alike, adding that “they can’t do it.”
“Historically, Man City always get better after January,” he stated
