Sky Sports’ Roy Keane believes it will take a lot to stop Arsenal in the Premier League title race, while Cesc Fabregas has hailed the changes made across the club by Mikel Arteta that have helped spearhead the Gunners’ charge towards success.
In a crunch week in the title race, Arsenal were 3-2 winners against Manchester United on Super Sunday, sending them five points clear of Manchester City in second place with a game in hand.
It was an impressive performance from Arteta’s young side, and although Man City have title-winning pedigree, Keane believes it will take something special to deny Arsenal their first league title since the 2003/04 season.
“They are in a great place with the atmosphere and the momentum,” he said on Sky Sports following the game.
“That was a big challenge today. In tight games when they are up against it, you look at the personality of the team and the characters. We know they’re good players, we see that week in and week out, but could we see the other side of it? We saw that today.
“The momentum is with them, there’s good experience, youth and pace. They had good options off the bench – they’re in a great place. If you had said at the start of the season they’d be where they are, you wouldn’t have believed it. It will take a lot to stop them.
“They were under pressure with Man City winning (against Tottenham on Wednesday and Wolves on Sunday afternoon), they would have been well aware of that, so it was a pressurised game and they dealt with that well. They deserved the victory.
“There was a question mark over them that they blew it or bottled it last season. That was thrown at them because they were in a great position to be top four but they’ve dealt with that well and answered their critics. They’ve learnt from those mistakes, they’re a stronger group and we’re seeing that week in, week out.”
Former Arsenal midfielder Fabregas gave a unique insight into how Arteta has changed the club from the training ground to new players and culture.
He also credited the club’s hierarchy for sticking by the manager, even after a few arguably underwhelming seasons. –Sky Sports
