Match of the Day 2 | show | 2004 | Official Clip
A light-hearted look at the United Kingdom's Premier League action, rounding-up the weekend's football action. | dHNfOXpDTGcyZ2V1LUk
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00:00 Arsenal top, Liverpool got the point at Manchester City.
00:04 I know Villa are up there as well, but are we in a genuine three horse title race, do you think?
00:10 Yeah, and I think if you, you know, if we'd have looked at it from the start of the season,
00:14 I think these are the three teams that we'd eventually would have thought, you know, we'll get away from it.
00:18 We've got the Christmas period kind of coming up, which kind of sorts things out a lot throughout the season as well.
00:24 Yes, I know Villa fans would be kind of sat there saying, "Well, we're in amongst it,"
00:28 but I don't see them being there come the end of the year.
00:31 I think they're going to be part of that challenge for the Champions League with Man United, with Newcastle, with Spurs as well.
00:39 So, yeah, it's a three horse race in my opinion.
00:41 You look at the relative strengths of the two challenges then of Arsenal and Liverpool,
00:46 you look at Arsenal first of all, where their strength is without a shadow of a doubt defensively,
00:52 it's going forward where they could just do with a few more goals, isn't it really?
00:56 It's bad to think because you think of the players that attack and threat Arsenal have excite me.
01:01 And we always used to complain about defence many, many years ago in the Arsenal, but now they've sort of flipped it.
01:07 And I mean, if they're going to keep clean sheets and they only need one or two goals to win games,
01:12 I'm quite happy Arsenal are doing that throughout the whole season, quite personally, yeah.
01:15 Whereas you flip it with Liverpool and actually, you know, defensively they've only conceded ten,
01:21 which is second in the Premier League.
01:22 They do face an awful lot of shots, but their strength is their attacking weapons.
01:27 Yeah, I think they've got five players now in attacking areas all competing for three places
01:31 and I think their firepower is probably a bit better than Arsenal's in my opinion.
01:35 I think they've got better options and more power in the front third, final third of the pitch,
01:39 which might be the defining factor.
01:43 The concern for Liverpool and Arsenal is if City do what they've tended to do most seasons,
01:47 get better as the second half of the season comes to us.
01:50 Because they're very rarely top at this stage.
01:52 And if they go up again a couple of gears, can Liverpool and Arsenal stay with them?
01:56 I hope so, but we never know how good City will be.
02:00 City naturally will with De Bruyne coming back anyway, won't they?
02:01 That's true.
02:02 So, it's going to be tough for Liverpool.
02:04 And the way they always work, isn't it?
02:05 Get the Champions League group sorted, make sure they're through that,
02:08 and then put their foot down when it comes to the Premier League.
02:11 Yeah, they've found a rhythm, haven't they, over the last couple of years.
02:13 And I think getting that Champions League situation sorted is vital.
02:18 They seem to be able to balance their squad better than most when it matters towards the end of the season.
02:23 Do Arsenal benefit from being in the race last year to the extent that they were?
02:28 I would say so, but like you said before, as soon as you go to the further stages of the competition,
02:34 the Champions League and all the cup competitions,
02:37 this is where the lack of squad depth and the attacking power where Arsenal may falter, potentially.
02:44 But I still feel like City are going to be tough to beat.
02:47 They need a 20-goal-a-season man Arsenal if they've got any chance of winning the league, I think.
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