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Teddy Sheringham doesn’t think Arsenal have «bottled» him in the Premier League title race because «you have to be near perfect» when you compete against Man City.
The Gunners are now second in the Premier League following City’s 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side can regain top spot in the table with a win against Chelsea on Tuesday night.
Whatever happens at the Emirates, City will remain favorites to win the title and will have two games in hand against Arsenal.
Many believe Arsenal have bottled up the title after sitting at the top of the table for the vast majority of this season.
The cracks in their title challenge really started to form when they blew away a two-goal lead against Liverpool on 9 April.
The Gunners have been given the benefit of the doubt with an ever extremely difficult trip to Anfield.
However, no one was so generous following their 2-2 draw at West Ham – after once again leading 2-0 – and a 3-3 home draw against bottom side Southampton.
These results meant that Arsenal lacked momentum ahead of last Wednesday’s match away to Man City and they they were beaten 4-1making Pep Guardiola’s team the big favorites to win the title.
Had they won two of those three matches, the Gunners could have lost at the Etihad and their fate would have remained in their hands.
Former Man Utd and Tottenham striker Sheringham thinks those poor results before the match at City played a huge part in their below-par performance in what many have termed a title decider encounter.
«Arsenal put themselves under pressure by losing their two-goal lead against Liverpool and West Ham and then there was also the game against Southampton,» he told Lord Ping. “Being 1-3 down, yes they came back into the game and drew, but at this stage of the season you can’t draw those games.
“Those results put a lot of pressure on them. If they hadn’t drawn those matches, they would have gone to Manchester with more optimism. They would know that even if they lost, the title was still in their hands.
“They came up against a team far superior to Manchester City. City are in full swing at the moment – they are fantastic to watch – the football is brilliant and deserves a round of applause.
«Arsenal have been blown away by City like most teams this season.»
Despite Arsenal’s poor form in the break-in and the fact that many people have been highly critical of them, Sheringham does not feel they have «bottled» the title.
“Arsenal have had a great season; they played beautiful football and received a lot of acclaim,” he added.
“I was in Dubai recently and ran into some Arsenal fans who told me they were planning to return for the last game of the season and hopefully a save – I thought they were planning too far into the future.
“Nothing can ever be taken for granted, especially when you are competing with this City team.
“City have exhausted Arsenal and, in recent games, the pressure has increased.
“I don’t think Arsenal bottled it up, they just weren’t good enough and you have to be near perfect if you want to compete with this Manchester City team.
«They have a young squad which is a little below the standard required to win a Premier League title.»
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