Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has explained why he thinks Arsenal could have “no chance” of winning the Premier League title this season.
In recent months, Arsenal have cemented themselves as the firm favourites to win the Premier League title this season, while they have also advanced in the Carabao Cup and are in a strong position in the Champions League group phase.
The Gunners had an 18-game unbeaten run in all competitions since losing against Liverpool at the end of August, but they suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
This has seen Aston Villa close in on table-toppers Arsenal, while second-placed Manchester City are only two points adrift of Mikel Arteta‘s side after beating Sunderland 3-0 at the weekend.
This means Arsenal need to bounce back to winning ways when they face bottom-placed Wolves this weekend, while Man City and Aston Villa have away games at Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively.
Ahead of these matches, Scholes has backed Man City to win the title as Arsenal have “no chance until they start winning big games”.
“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 start winning big games they’ve got no chance of winning the league.
“They lost to Liverpool, they couldn’t beat Man City at home when they were struggling. Aston Villa are a good team, don’t get me wrong, but Arsenal just can’t win big games. They couldn’t beat Chelsea after they went down to ten men.
“If you’re going to win the league you’ve got to start winning some big games, you’ve got to beat your rivals, and they can’t do it.
“Historically Man City always get better after January. They were in the Club World Cup so they didn’t really have a pre-season.”
United legend Nicky Butt is also backing Man City to “win the league” for one main reason.
“I did say I fancied Man City for the title about a month ago. They’re suddenly clicking,” Butt said.
“The reason I think Man City will win the league is Pep [Guardiola]. He’s got the experience. I can see him winning the league this year and then leaving.”