Jose Mourinho has played down Premier League leaders Arsenal’s chances of winning the title this season and still feels Manchester City are the favourites to retain their crown.
The Gunners secured the top spot on the table by defeating Brighton 2-0 over the weekend. Liverpool and Aston Villa are trailing by just one point, while City, after relinquishing a two-goal advantage at home against Crystal Palace, find themselves five points away from the leading position.
Last season, Arsenal held the top position with a five-point lead over City at this same point, but the treble winners caught up in the latter part of the season to secure their third consecutive title.
Mourinho believes City’s remarkable squad depth, sufficient to assemble two top-notch starting lineups, will ultimately propel them to success once more. Liverpool stands as their closest competition, though Mourinho expresses a desire to see Arsenal join in to make it a three-way competition.
Asked by former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel on his The Obi One Podcast who will win the Premier League, Mourinho replied: ‘Man City 51 [per cent] and Liverpool 49.’
When asked if league leaders Arsenal are in the conversation, Mourinho pulled a face and simply replied: ‘Na.’
Mikel burst out laughing at his old manager’s bluntness, saying: ‘The rivalry is still there!’
Mourinho continued: ‘But it is not the rivalry… it isn’t the right moment [for them].’
When Mikel suggested the north Londoners ‘always capitulate’, Mourinho replied: ‘Honestly, rivalry apart because I can do it, I would like them to win, I would like a third [team in the title race].
‘Of course Chelsea is not going to win it, that’s out of the question, so I don’t think about Chelsea.
‘Of course Manchester United is not going to win it, I don’t speak about Man United too, so it’s going to be these three and out of these three I would be happy for Arsenal to do it.
‘I would be really happy to [see them] break a little bit that thing, but I think it’s 51-49 [between City and Liverpool].
‘And I say 51-49 because when the accumulation of matches are coming, Man City has two teams!’
Manchester City won’t play in the Premier League until December 27, as they are involved in the Club World Cup. This creates an opportunity for either Arsenal or Liverpool to widen their lead over the champions when they face each other at Anfield next weekend.
1 Comment