![\"Mikel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Mikel-Arteta-and-Pep-Guardiola-1140x641.jpg\")
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Credit: IMAGO<\/p>\n
![\"Callum](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769480363_134_0b51cc5e83eff516a40e917d327dc30e.png\")
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Mon 26 January 2026 20:30, UK <\/p>\n
Man City have been backed as the favourites to win the Premier League title after Arsenal stumbled and allowed them to narrow the gap.<\/strong><\/p>\n Pep Guardiola\u2019s side beat Wolves 2-0<\/a> before watching their title rivals Arsenal lose 3-2 at the hands of Man United<\/a> as they closed the gap to four points.<\/p>\n Arsenal<\/a> had the chance to pull nine points clear last weekend, but a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest<\/a> saw them slip up, and the pressure is now unrelenting.<\/p>\n Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown<\/a> told Football Insider<\/strong> that Man City<\/a>\u2018s previous record in close-fought title battles has given them a clear advantage.<\/p>\n Arsenal have finished as runners-up to City in the last two seasons despite previously holding strong positions, and that will likely play on their minds again.<\/p>\n Brown told Football Insider<\/strong> in November that Arsenal have a clear advantage over Man City<\/a> thanks to their superior defensive structure and set-piece threat.<\/p>\n However, following two successive weekends where the Gunners have dropped points, City will smell blood and can be unstoppable in this position.<\/p>\n MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n \u201cMan City are the favourites to win the title now,\u201d Brown told Football Insider.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been my favourites even when Arsenal were seven points clear, because Arsenal have shown in the past they\u2019re capable of being frustrated.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can lose or draw a game maybe you don\u2019t expect them to, like against Forest or United, and I think City can beat them when they play each other.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden, that seven points gap is gone, and we know how ruthless City can be.<\/p>\n \u201cArsenal are a good side, defensively they\u2019ve got an edge on every team in the league, but I\u2019m not sure they score enough goals and that\u2019s a major concern.<\/p>\n \u201cCity, when they get into their flow, we\u2019ve seen before under Guardiola they can just win and win and win, put together a 15-game winning run and then they\u2019re out of sight.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not totally convinced this version of Man City will be capable of that, but with the signings they\u2019ve made they\u2019re already showing improvements.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think based on what we\u2019ve seen from both of these teams historically and this season, City have that winning edge and Arsenal are always susceptible to throwing it away.\u201d <\/p>\n Mikel Arteta could be sacked by Arsenal<\/p>\n Brown warned Football Insider<\/strong> on 26 January that Arteta could be sacked by Arsenal<\/a> if he again fails to lead them to major silverware come the end of the season.<\/p>\n Both\u00a0Liverpool<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Man City\u00a0have dipped below their usual high levels, while the Gunners have come close in the past before late-season drop-offs.<\/p>\n There are now growing fears the same could happen again with their lead at the top being eaten into by both City and\u00a0Aston Villa<\/a>\u00a0after back-to-back poor results.<\/p>\n Football Insider<\/strong> revealed in November that Arsenal are planning contract talks with Arteta<\/a>, with an extension to his deal to be offered at the end of the season.<\/p>\n However, should they fail to win major silverware despite what is seen as their best opportunity, they could pull the plug on his time at the club instead.<\/p>\n For more Arsenal and exclusive news, follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0or join our brand new\u00a0WhatsApp Channel<\/a>\u00a0for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: IMAGO Mon 26 January 2026 20:30, UK Man City have been backed as the favourites to win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4100],"tags":[161,94,886,207439,101,79,16,15],"class_list":["post-723193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-arsenal","tag-football","tag-manchester-city","tag-mick-brown","tag-premier-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115964671980501949","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Manchester](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Pep-Guardiola-7-1024x683.jpg\")
Credit: ImagoMan City backed to beat Arsenal to the Premier League title<\/p>\n![\"Arsenal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Mikel-Arteta-3-1024x683.jpg\")
Credit: Imago<\/p>\n