Chelsea legend John Terry has backed Manchester City to clinch the Premier League title, predicting Arsenal will slip to third place.
City took charge of an exciting title race when both Liverpool and Arsenal suffered unexpected home losses to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, respectively, earlier this month, while City secured a win against Luton Town that same weekend.
City gained a two-point advantage, but after their commitments in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend, both Arsenal and Liverpool have now overtaken them in the standings.
Arsenal currently lead by four points following victories against Wolves and a 5-0 demolition of Chelsea on Monday night, while Liverpool could match their 77 points if they defeat Everton tonight.
By the time City faces Brighton on Thursday, they will have played two fewer games than their rivals but still control their own destiny.
John Terry, recently inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, is confident that Pep Guardiola’s team will prevail.
In a ‘blind ranking’ challenge, Manchester City was placed first, with John Terry immediately ranking them at number one.
Arsenal appeared next among the title contenders, with Terry ranking them third and supporting Liverpool for the second-place finish.
Tottenham is in the fight for fourth place, six points behind Aston Villa but with two games in hand over Unai Emery’s team.
However, John Terry chose not to rank one of Chelsea’s major rivals, bypassing them twice before ultimately selecting Manchester United for the fourth spot. United currently trails fourth-placed Villa by 16 points.
Despite their exit from the Champions League, City remains in contention for a domestic double, having advanced to another FA Cup final against Manchester United in May.
‘We have had a lot of problems with important players with injuries, but we are still there,’ Guardiola said.
We are in the final of the FA Cup, we made the latter stages of the Champions League and in the Premier League we are there.
‘But you can arrive to the end like this and in one week lose all titles, but the team have behaved unbelievable this season again.’
He added: ‘Every game is important now as every mistake and setback is difficult. But we have been here many times so we know what we are playing for.’
